Album Review: Kadhja Bonet’s “The Visitor” Shows The Womanly Nuances Of Love
Kadhja Bonet’s The Visitor is luxuriously nuanced ode to love and femininity, This 8 track record is like becoming a guest in a women’s heart, and learning how it can be a lovely home. In just 8 tracks, Bonet grapples with the maturity and wisdom one must acquire as they grow from being a girl to a young woman.
When you are girl, you are innocent and open, but as you become a woman it is hard to decipher whether those benevolent qualities are beneficial, as well. Although it is beautiful to see the freedom and naivety of a child, being an adult is about learning how to adapt those feelings of liberation even when life tries to close you off. Songs like “The Visitor” and “Francisco” are like siren calls for every moment a young woman’s innocence clashed with a harsher reality. In them, Bonet sings soprano melodies like a mermaid rising from the ocean, and pondering how she turns her tail into a pair of legs that can walk. Thus, Bonet’s fairytale voice causes The Visitor to feel like a novel based in self-discovery.
Bonet’s voice is captivating and radiant. She is like a sunray with her vocals being a singular beam of celestial brightness. She sounds too light to be from this earth, which is why even songs about life’s routines like, “Portrait of Tracy”, are draped in magnificence. Her voice is quiet and lush like a diamond in the rough; for however enclosed it may be, nothing can take away the fact that it shines. Tracks like, “Honeycomb” and “Fairweather Friend” are my favorites of the album because of their visionary references. Bonet’s words are practically Shakespearean in their capacity to paint the situations of love and life that she undergoes to spiritually grow. Moreover, her 60’s/70’s folk-pop sound will enamor vintage lovers, like myself, that secretly believe they were born in the wrong era for “free love” and sultry definitions.
One thing I love about this record is how sexy it is in elegance. There is something carnally and soulfully attractive to watching someone grow better and stronger as a person, which is what Bonet’s songs teach; beauty is always growing. Unfortunately, those attributes come through suffering , yet even in Bonet’s words of lowlier sentiments, there is never an instance of depression or sadness. Instead, The Visitor feels like an ocean of steady water, where even the roughest, emotional currents are smoothed by Bonet’s angelic voice. Thus, Bonet’s capacity to sing on life and love with consistent and gorgeous tranquility, turns The Visitor into a very thoughtful album.
The Visitor feels like an album for intellectuals. Its dreamy compositions and Bonet’s sweet voice will cause anyone to peacefully close their eyes and swoon to the music. The record is inherently romantic because it shows love as the foundation to being human. Love is what pushes us to grow from girls into women, but it is also love that assures such a transition is positive and spiritual. Whether you are reaching for your dreams or still exploring what a “dream” is, Bonet has given you 8 tracks that allow you to simply think. With the cinema reel that her voice imbues in your mind, you can see the beauty of life and how growing up is an eternal and riveting process. For More Information On Kadhja Bonet and to Buy The Visitor On October 21, Click Here.
