By Daniel Peraza
TOKiMONSTA’s Lune Rouge is one of those rare sub-hour albums that I can listen to in the background about three times before realizing that I had left it on. I can put it on and not worry about having too many songs that I want to skip. Two or three, max. That’s later. It also contains one of my most enduring tracks that I keep in my rotation. The few electronic artists that have carved their name into the established scene, TOKiMONSTA continues to create, produce, and curate their own space. She uses real-life sounds as much as she can to give the music a different feel. The Californian-born artist has released six albums, about to be seven with the new Eternal Reverie, but this review touches on studio album number 3: Lune Rouge. I recommend her whole catalog, really, but this album is a body of work of significance to me and obviously, to her.
The album starts out with “Lune” and “Rouge”, a double track introduction to this project that slowly introduces the listener to who TOKiMONSTA is. A mellow guitar and floating choir carry the album into the third song of “Thief” featuring the first vocalist being Saints, a well-arranged track that gives you the electro pop that you would hear now from the last The Weeknd album. All this to lead to the most special song on this album to me: “I wish I could.” A gentle piano and the vocals from what came to be one of my favorite female vocalists. Selah Sue is a Belgian singer and producer that deserves more flowers than she gets right now. Her voice has a certain tone that can’t be easily copied, not that it should, but it carries a certain weight when the first pre-chorus starts. A slightly pulsating synthesizer and kick drum drop the listener into the main chorus and message of the song whose title is after.
Jennifer Lee or TOKiMONSTA has been extensively interviewed about the subject of her Moyamoya brain disease that she had to get two brain surgeries for. She wanted to create music after gaining the ability to speak again but wasn’t able to right away. After some time, the rhythms and chords came back and “I wish I could” was born. Her latest on this comes from an NPR interview by Tonya Mosely back in October 2023. Now, back to the review.
Photo by Matty Winkelmeyer for Getty Images
The album continues and we hit some of the other “non-traditional” electronic songs that get us to the last song I want to touch on before going into LP Giobbi’s album. That is “No way” that features Isaiah Rashad, Joey Purp, and Ambre Perkins. I know, after The Sun’s Tirade, but it has one of the best hooks of the album. Joey Purp goes into a rap flow that was very reminiscent of what 2017 had to offer. Ambre Perkins seals it with her vocals in the background that create that ambiance that is throughout the project.
This is one of the best electronic albums that I keep going through or at least gravitating towards, even after all these years.
8/10.