After a Rough Road, Lovato Officially “Confident”
On Fri, Oct. 16, Demi Lovato released her fifth studio album “Confident.” This is the singer’s first album in two years, her last release being her self-titled album “Demi” in 2013.
Lovato’s voice has gone through a transformation. Looking at the start of her career singing on Disney Channel in 2008 to present, her voice has definitely gained range as indicated by most of her songs on “Confident.” From the belting of the word “her”at the end of her song “Stone Cold” to the literal one-breath chorus of “Old Ways,” Lovato shows she has definitely been practicing with her vocal chords. Compared to her last album, it is magnificent to see how much she has improved in just two years, let alone from her first album in 2008.
Lovato helped co-write most of the songs on her album which shows the true sincerity of her forceful or saddened voice when singing. The only disappointment, however, is that she did not help write the song “Old Ways,” which, with Lovato’s history of dealing with eating disorders and bullying, is a bit surprising to say the least. While the rest of the songs she helped write expresses herself in other ways, it takes away from the sincerity of this song. The song sounds like it is specifically for her which adds to the disappointment that Lovato did not write it herself. It could not, however, fit more perfectly with this album.
With songs such as her title track “Confident,” “Waitin’ for You,” feat. Sirah, and “Stars,” Lovato displays her fierceness and is making her dauntless presence known. “Waitin’ for You,” is about with a person waiting for an encounter and fed up with the drama of waiting for it. Lovato even made the music video on location of her old middle school where she was constantly bullied. She keeps this fight-vibe of the album going with a brief mention of Rousey in “Stars,” Rousey being Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) Ronda Rousey.
Ultimately, Lovato’s album is a success. It shows how far she has come as an artist but also as a person by singing about topics she has dealt with personally that she has never sang about before. A prime example of this is her song “Father” about her father who dealt with mental disorders before passing away in 2013. She approaches the topic in this song the same way she does with her other songs: with raw honesty.
This is her best album to date vocally and with the most truthful expression. 10 out of 10. There is definitely nothing wrong with being confident about that.