''Clarity'' is the debut mixtape and first full-length project by German singer Kim Petras, released on 28 June 2019. Nine of its twelve tracks were released beforehand, beginning in April 2019. It was produced by Made in China, Aaron Joseph, Brandon Hamlin, Jussifer, Oliver and Ben Billions. Petras stated that this project is her "personal journey over the last two years". ''Clarity'' received critical acclaim from critics upon release, who praised its catchy pop sound, with some comparing it to artists like

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

, and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

. To promote the album, Petras embarked on the Clarity Tour starting with North America and then Europe.

Background

Petras has said the project is "about finding myself. It started with 'Broken' and will end with 'Clarity' because it reflects my personal journey over the last two years." Nine of the songs were released in advance, including the "breakup anthem" "Broken", "

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

" song " All I Do Is Cry", the " hookup anthem" "Do Me", and the "bouncy banger" "Personal Hell". The first song that was released from ''Clarity'' was "Broken", on 25 April 2019 written by Petras herself and co-writer Anthony Medina. Petras later released one song every week to streaming services after that for ten weeks. Petras confirmed on

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that the tenth song that was released from ''Clarity'', "Icy", was the actual lead single.

Composition

The album contains elements of

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

, bubblegum pop,

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

and

emo pop Emo pop (alternatively typeset with a hyphen, also known as emo pop-punk and pop-emo) is a fusion genre combining emo with pop-punk, pop music, or both. Emo pop features a musical style with more concise composition and Hook (music), hook-filled ...

. Reviewers also noted a shift towards darker themes and hip-hop influences on the project, though most still emphasized the danceable aspect of some tracks from the album.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the project received a score of 83 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". '' Variety'' called the project "sturdy pop songcraft" and compared it favorably to

's 1995 album ''

Robyn Is Here ''Robyn Is Here'' is the debut studio album by Swedish singer Robyn. It was originally released on 13 October 1995 in Sweden by Ricochet Records, Ariola Records and BMG. The original edition of the album only received a release in Sweden, Japan ...

'', also making a comparison between Petras' career trajectory and that of

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

. Comparing the record to the early 2000s pop hits of

and

, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and praised its power-pop sound. It also wrote that Petras' "addictively crafted bubblegum pop" makes her "sound like a superstar from a parallel universe", and praised her musical experimentation. Writing for ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'', Chris DeVille identified the main theme of the album as "looking for release through sex and

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

". DeVille noted that it marks a shift in Petras' content from "sparkling pop sound into a mistier, sadder, more hip-hop-adjacent territory" and praised it as "an impressive collection". Tyler Mazaheri of ''Flaunt'' favored the album's nontraditional single-a-week promotion and praised the project for its "catchy choruses layered over danceable beats", adding that "the album is sure to pack all the bops udiences willbe hearing in the club for the unforeseeable future." In his review of the single "Icy", Michael Love Michael of ''

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'' proclaimed "Kim Petras just might have released one of this year's most compelling pop collections."

Promotion

Kim Petras Aaron Joseph Clarity Tour 2019

Prior to the release of ''Clarity'', Petras began embarking on her 24-stop promotional tour, The Broken Tour. Through May and June, Petras appeared on a number of magazine covers including ones for ''Galore'', ''The Gay Times'', ''Flaunt'', ''Notion'', and ''AtKode''.

Singles

Petras released the first song from ''Clarity'', "Broken", on 25 April 2019. Petras released one song every week to streaming services after that for ten weeks in preparation for her debut concert tour Broken Tour. Petras later confirmed on

that the tenth song to be released from the album, "Icy", was the actual lead single.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 mixtape albums Albums produced by Dr. Luke Kim Petras albums Electropop albums Bubblegum pop albums Debut mixtape albums Republic Records mixtape albums Self-released mixtape albums Amigo Records albums