Album Review: Farao Is Addicted To Love In Pure-O

‘Pure-O’, Farao’s second album, is a prog-pop exposition on the curious dichotomy between beauty and destructiveness in sex and relationships. For the young singer, love is an addiction, of which relationships can be seen as her “fixes.” Most of us can relate; going from one love to the next and being divided by our obsession to find “the one” or being someone’s “right now.”

Love makes you feel wanted and needed, which is not a bad feeling. Yet, you can grow addicted to having others desire and fawn over you, and Pure-O shows the dangers of that when you do not like yourself. It is as if their love for you falsely replaces and distracts from the love you should have for yourself. Thus, tracks like, “Marry Me,” “Triumph Over Me,” and “Cluster of Delights” has Farao singing like life is a dragging dream; beautiful but with an underbelly of insecurity.

Farao’s voice glistens like a disco ball, but her verses remind you that it is made from shattered mirrors. For however much you dance to and feel seduced by love, relationships can get ugly or, at least, bring out your darkness. In perspective, it is not just that being vulnerable makes you grow; it is also that you have to grow to be vulnerable. Some get defensive or manipulative when they feel an emotional crack to their tough skin, and Farao maneuvers through this dynamic in “Get Along” and “Truthsayer.” She is no longer avoiding that loving others can be dangerous when you use it to define how or if you can love yourself.

Farao’s self-awareness blends the album disco ambiance with a diary-esque intimacy. The singer claims that Soviet Disco heavily influenced her soundscape. Hence, synths and snares seem to march with a heaviness that still twinkles and twilights with a hopefulness for a better self-esteem. This juxtaposition is bridged by Farao’s scintillatingly sweet voice. To Buy Pure-O Click Here.