Liberation

the take

This isn't my first introduction to ZZ Ward. I attempted to get into her music back in about 2018, 2019. It was during my era to explore more music outside my comfort zone of R&B and hip-hop, so her music at the time was kind of... okay, really different than what I'm used to. It wasn't bad by any means, but I'd be lying if I said I went back to it in the years since. Here I am in 2025, giving ZZ Ward another chance, this time with her latest album "Liberation". I had a feeling this album would have a rock feel to it, but blues rock is really unknown territory for me. Lyrically speaking, the songwriting is actually not that bad, with ZZ Ward's vocals and occasional inflections help convey the emotion(s) the lyrics possess. In other words, it gives off that authentic feel to me. The title track and "Naked in the Jungle" are two examples of such. And while I'm still indifferent on ZZ Ward's approach to blues rock, the musical backdrops on here sounded much better on second listen, as I'm able to pretty much understand what she's trying to do and how to go about things. It's not straight up terrible (two songs are just okay at best), but "Liberation" is a decent project to listen to. Could've been worse, but at least I'm open to something new I'm not familiar with, though.