Lopez is in love, and that’s a treat for her fans
Jennifer Lopez “This Is Me ... Now” (BMG)
On “This Is Me … Now,” Jennifer Lopez's first solo album in a decade, the singer takes back her rightful place on the throne of pop music.
In 2002, Jennifer Lopez dropped “This Is Me … Then,” her third studio album that married her glossy-eyed romanticism with R&b-pop rhythms. She also announced an engagement to the actor Ben Affleck, who she met while filming the movie “Gigli” in 2001. The pair broke up a few years later.
Fast forward 20 years and “Bennifer” — as they were dubbed by the '00s press — has returned, and so has her sublime pop. In 2022, they married, and now in 2024, the “This Is Me” series continues — articulating nostalgia and a loving feeling she knows best. It is the soundtrack to a new J.LO Renaissance — one where she got her happy ending and has made the art to let listeners into her dreamy love story.
The opening track, “This Is Me … Now,” is quintessential J.LO, with romantic instrumentation of flutes and harps. “Had a lot to learn, had a lot to grow, had to find my way,” sings Lopez on a track reminiscent of a track that might've been on her 2002 R&B dance-pop album — with a new, refined wisdom.
It proceeds “To Be Yours,” an energetic love song — sentimental but never saccharine — perfect for a serenade or the dance floor atop hip-hop beats.
The album releases today, the same day as a film by the same name: “This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story.”
“Can't Get Enough,” an early single that doubled as a tease for the movie, was released with a music video that depicts the singer getting married several times, as she has in real life. In that way, the visual communicates that she's ready to open the door to her life and show it all — the good and the ugly — all the while sweetly singing “I'm still in love with you, boy,” a genderflipped take on Alton Ellis' 1967 reggae classic “I'm Still in Love with You,” which her song samples.
As for that relationship transparency: “Dear Ben pt. II” is a sequel to the slow-burn “Dear Ben” from the 2002 album. The second installment is a more dynamic take on the same relationship. “When I think you'll let me down, you lift my hopes,” she sings about finding love with Affleck again, two decades later.
At the end of the album is the R&B anthem “Greatest Love Story Never Told” — a bow on the album's full package — Lopez's breathy vocals sway above an acoustic guitar, piano and strings. “It's destiny how we found each other twice in one lifetime,” she sings both for her audience and for her husband.
“This Is Me ... Now” is for the Jennifer Lopez loyalists who patiently awaited her return, Bennifer fans and those who believe in true love — no matter what shape it takes or how long.
Zara Larsson “Venus” (Epic Records)
The month of February, with its overload of flowers, candy and everything heart-shaped, is an annual celebration of that warm, fuzzy feeling we call love.
But if you aren't in a steady relationship or even stuck in a toxic one, Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson 's latest album “Venus” might be exactly what you need.
“Venus” is a fourth record for Larsson, showcasing a more emotional and daring side of her talents, diving deeper into who she is and where she comes from atop her characteristic Europop sound.
It begins with the album artwork: Larsson is nude — vulnerable and powerful — with a visible tattoo of the letter “H” on her rib cage for her sister, Hannah. The singer is posed to re-create Sandro Botticelli's “The Birth of Venus” painting, her modesty protected only by her long golden hair and a pink chrome seashell.
And just like the messaging behind the famous work, Larsson's latest album feels like a rebirth and a celebration of beauty, as though she takes the role of wise older sister for all her fans
looking for a romantic resurrection of their own.
The first track, The Weeknd -channeling synth pop of “Can't Tame Her,” establishes that Larsson's album is not simply preoccupied with heartbreak — rather, there is very little time left to cry when you are dancing the night away.
“So if she wants to party all night/no you can't tame her no/ And you can't tie her down/ When the night comes around,” she sings over an upbeat melody.
On “On My Love,” the artist is joined once again by EDM giant David Guetta. The duo previously collaborated in 2016 with “This One's for You,” the anthem for the UEFA European Football Championship that year.
The 2010s Europop throwback track is about adoration. “Into the dark, into the light/baby I go/whether it's wrong, whether it's right/i will follow,” Larsson sings, in a romantic song sweetly dedicated to her own ride-or-die, Hannah.
From one type of love to another, the Rihanna-esque slow burn “Ammunition” tells the story of a destructive relationship. In the cheery chant-along “You Love Who You Love,” Larsson tells a friend to give up a man that brings her down.
Even then, Larsson never stops the dance party: The advice is delivered atop a cheeky pop melody, stuck between funky production and steady percussion. Clearly, Larsson knows how to pair hard truths with joyful music.