As Empress Of, Lorely Rodriguez has spent the last decade moving between powerful, upbeat synth-pop and introspective ballads with unselfconscious ease. Even when it's leaning towards more mainstream pop, like 2022 Save me The EP's key influences, the Honduran American producer and singer-songwriter shine through. Whether she's channeling the dizzying serenades of the Cocteau Twins or the warped stylings of Imogen Heap, her catalog is filled with bubbly, unpredictable love songs in English and Spanish, which have opened her way for pop stars like Carly Rae Jepsen and Rina Sawayama. On her fourth independently released album For your attention, Rodriguez hits a desaturated new groove, reimagining a diffuse, sensual take on propulsive dance and electropop. It's the most complex Empress Of album to date, a dazzling showcase for Rodriguez's unexpected vocal and production approach as she experiences the peaks and valleys of intense romance.
Rodriguez executive produced For your attention and enlisted a fleet of other up-and-coming songwriters and producers to help out, including Casey MQ, Umru, Cecile Believe and Nick León. The diverse spread helps map out the album's unruly unpredictable settings: These songs open and pull Rodriguez's vocals like a tomb, twisted into structures of their own. it's like he got Björk Marrow as a conceptual star of the north and ran full speed with him in the club. An opening suite of whispers morphs into a pitch-shifting motif on the alluring “Sucia,” whose bilingual song lyrics lead into a deliciously frenzied chorus, her voice rising to a vibrant hum. Later, her backing vocals drift into a more ominous, crazed turn on the standout “Preciosa,” adding texture to the song's deep bass and impassioned vocals. “Entra a mi mar/Mójate ya/Ya tú verás/Que te enamoras” (Come into my sea/Get wet/You'll see that you'll fall in love) she sings softly, before her voice breaks into a fast beat.
For your attention he thrives on the elasticity of the human voice, while his lyrics turn from covert lovers to washing new assumptions. Breaths and hiccups form the abrasive rhythm on the tender opening title track, which dissects a series of red flags, letting her words linger with fading desire. Here he riffs on the “for your consideration” awards season campaigns that actors and directors run as a metaphor for an unbalanced relationship. the line, repeated during the chorus, takes on a pleading tone that slowly becomes more steely with confidence. “You wrote the script,” he allows, realizing with stark clarity. “Your words, not mine.”
