Raise Vibration is the eleventh studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz. It was released on Roxie Records via BMG Rights Management on September 7, 2018 and produced seven singles.
Background.
Kravitz explained that he struggled with serious writer’s block while trying to focus on this album. "Raise Vibration" is a socially-conscious album, containing twelve compositions that address multiple issues plaguing the world. As on most of his other studio recordings, Kravitz plays most of the instruments himself, with longtime guitarist Craig Ross and keyboardist/orchestrator David Baron being the only collaborators (other than string and horn players). The album has produced four singles. "It's Enough!" is a song against corporate greed, political corruption, and racism. The follow-up single "Low" explores the perils of his near-mythical sensuality with intonations alluding to his past intimate relationships. The song "Low" was released as a single and a video approximately six weeks before the album. It contains vocal extracts from Michael Jackson.
Song "5 More Days 'Til Summer" was released as the third single and is much more upbeat than "Low" and "It’s Enough!". The song "Johnny Cash", a mix of psychedelic country and western, was released as the fourth single to be a tribute to American legendary country singer Johnny Cash, who died on September 12, 2003. Kravitz claims to have met Cash and his wife June Carter in 1995 when he was flatmates with Rick Rubin in Los Angeles, when he encountered Cash and his wife after being called that his mother had died. He recalls the memory in the song, and pays respect to the legend.
The album was recorded in Eleuthera island, Bahamas, of which Kravitz is a long time resident—he has previously stated that many of his songs were written while staying there.
Reception.
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62, based on six reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Madison Desler of "Paste Magazine" commented "So here we are at the end of this album, left with the question, after 30 years, where does he stand? Is Lenny Kravitz a low-key legend? Let’s say yes—French people love him, he’s been praised and pilloried in equal measure and he has some tried-and-true bangers. Is Lenny Kravitz still cool? Not sure. This album is sending mixed messages. Will the giant scarf always be a thing? Most definitely".
Kory Grow of "Rolling Stone" stated "Lenny Kravitz gets angry in only the most Lenny Kravitz way possible: with a high-pitched “hoooo,” some funky bass and his typically über-passionate vocal delivery. Nearly every track on his 11th album, Raise Vibration – at least those that aren’t his signature love songs – seems like he intended it to be an anthem for resistance in the Trump era... Mostly, it’s Kravitz’s signature blend of rock and soul, love and social outrage, only this time with a little more bite". Zachary Hoskins of "Slant Magazine" wrote ""Raise Vibration"'s more serious shortcoming is its lyrics, which stumble whenever they reach for grand proclamations on the state of the world". Mark Kennedy of "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote "Still, Kravitz has given us enough meaty tunes to last us until he’s ready again to come ride to our rescue".
Charts.
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References.
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