Singer recognizes the effects of religious repression, while expanding her musical repertoire in a successful second album: ‘for me, it’s a political act’
The cliché goes that the second album presents an artist with the same proportions of risk and opportunity – the risk of disappointing and the opportunity to surprise. In that regard, VENUS≠neptunein Day Limnsgets it right by delving even deeper into the 28-year-old singer’s artistic and philosophical identity.
Successor of Welcome to the club2021, VENUS≠neptune takes on a more vulnerable side of Day, expanding his emotional journey to themes that had previously only been dealt with tangentially in his work, such as guilt, religiosity and spirituality. The sound follows the growth, going from R&B to new metal, taking a step further from pop towards rock.
Openly dealing with religion and the practical effects of fundamentalism to which it was subjected in the past emerges as a central theme on the album. “The album is about that, drawing parallels with my experience in church under a lot of religious repression,” says Day.
Despite having sang shyly about religious repression in tracks like “Fugitivos” in his previous work, Day gives voice and power in tracks like “VERMELHO FAROL” and “PURGATORIO” to what he classifies as a “political act”:
“For me, it is a political act. I confess that I want to be an active voice against religious fundamentalism, which chained me for many years and left marks that I try to heal with this album, for example; and I know that many teenagers, young people and adults live chained too. I find it provocative, and it makes my position obvious.”
The album, of course, still deals with romantic love and the reconciliation between idealization, expectations and realities. “FAITHFUL” (introduced by an appropriate Gregorian chant) gains strength by illustrating the guilt of self-sabotage in a relationship with biblical figures of speech – arks, floods, believers.
And it abuses symbolism beyond Christian iconography. It speaks through the zodiac, already in the name of the album: “In astrology, Venus symbolizes romance, beauty and art and Neptune symbolizes spirituality, or everything that transcends the earthly”, he says. “And a ‘Venus-Neptune’ person tends to ‘deify’ others and have difficulty dealing with the disappointment that this can cause.”
By navigating through terrain so common to herself, Day ends up transporting herself into the compositions with the confidence one would expect from a second album. Without moving away from pop or even emo, which she referenced in Welcome to the clubshe appears more vulnerable and at the same time so sure of herself, referencing herself in tracks like “CACOS”.
Along the way, he invited a few guest appearances to the album. If the pair Carolzinha It is Jenni Mosello – almost omnipresent in current pop – collaborate with almost confessional lyrics, the great participation of Hyperanhas in “APOKALÍPTIKA”, or FROID in “ASHINZEIRO”, they only reinforce the artist’s vision and commitment to a more acidic, mature and legitimate vision of her own work.
Listen VENUS≠neptune below:
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
