RED MARBLED VINYL

Over a decade into her career as one of Sweden's biggest pop exports, Zara Larsson expands her scope to include more shimmering dance-pop and neon-synth sheen on her third studio set, Venus. Along with the refreshed sound is a newfound artistic freedom: it's the first album released on her own Sommer House label. That liberated spirit -- the titular inner goddess of the title -- courses through Venus, which balances the usual pop-R&B style of her earlier work with rhythmic mainstream bops and some subtle emotional sweep. The playful singalong "You Love Who You Love" and the epic, string-backed "End of Time" build atop a persistent throb and soaring vocals, channeling the addictive, singsong style of Ava Max. Meanwhile, lead single "Can't Tame Her" careens down the midnight freeway of an '80s action flick, resurrecting that decade's full-throttle synth anthem energy. The sleek "None of These Guys" drips with attitude and a cold, pulsing beat, while David Guetta lends his festival-sized house production to "On My Love," a reunion with the superstar DJ that sounds like Rihanna's turn-of-the-decade ravers. Larsson stretches her usual range with the bittersweet piano ballad "Soundtrack" -- which references Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, and "Hallelujah" as she reflects on a past love -- and the aptly titled "The Healing," another delicate piano-based dose of vulnerability. Everything comes together on the triumphant title track, which merges the synth-bop energy of the album's big radio-friendly singles and the emotional depth of "Soundtrack" to maximum effect, opening Larsson's eyes to a new world full of love and possibility. Personal but still very fun, Venus is a bold but totally sensical evolution in sound that avoids a third LP of the same old songs and pushes Larsson's sonic style into the future.

A1        Can't Tame Her
A2        More Than This Was
A3        On My Love
A4        Ammunition
A5        None Of These Guys
A6        You Love Who You Love
B1        End Of Time
B2        Nothing
B3        Escape
B4        Soundtrack
B5        Venus
B6        The Healing