With two years since ‘Confident’, Demi Lovato is back in the headlines with sixth album Tell Me You Love Me. Each track evokes a completely different vibe whilst masterfully managing to work seamlessly as a complete work. Starting out with single ‘Sorry Not Sorry’, it’s a change of pace for Demi, who is known for her soulful ballads. The upbeat tone of the song lets us know that she is back and she’s not going to apologise for it.
The titular track, ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, slows it down delivering what Demi does best showcasing her incredible range. It hints at the emotion to come in the rest of the album whilst remaining relatively light and upbeat as we are still being introduced.
it’s a change of pace for Demi, who is known for her soulful ballads
In ‘Sexy Dirty Love’ we are lifted back out of emotional depth to another upbeat fun track. What Demi has mastered, unlike some of her peers from the Walt Disney Company, is growing into an adult artist, owning her sexuality. She’s unashamed and treats it as just a part of her, like every other feeling portrayed on the album, rather than holding up sexuality as a rebellion against her past or trying to use it to renew her image.
‘You Don’t Do It For Me Any More’ is arguably the most powerful track on the album, musically, vocally and lyrically it is Demi at the peak of her performance. Through the metaphor of a breakup Demi explores her success overcoming of past addiction, from her public past with eating disorders, mental health issues and substance abuse. This song is the ultimate rebellion against that, Demi show’s that she know longer controlled by toxic coping mechanisms. This song being the one that showcases her soulful strong tone and impressive range the most is particularly powerful, being free of these additions that don’t ‘Do It For Her Anymore’, has meant her voice, physically, is able to reach its full potential and her strong performance shows her rebellion and strength.
Demi has never been quiet about her toxic relationship with her birth father, who chose alcoholism over her family, that she touches on in previous albums in ‘For The Love Of A Daughter’ and ‘Father‘. Here, however, she diverts away from the emotional ballads about her yearning for the paternal relationship and instead focuses on how this emotional distance has affected her romantic relationships in ‘Daddy Issues’. In interesting twist on the trope of girls with ‘daddy issues’ often played for comedy being something that seriously affects her life, whilst remaining an upbeat and fun track.
In ‘Concentrate’ Demi shows that songs about sex and sexual expression don’t have to be exclusively club hits, they can be these beautifully composed ballads. You’d be forgiven for on first listen for thinking this is simply your typical falling in love song before the chorus hits you with explicit imagery of ‘music when you’re moaning’ and being ‘locked down’.
This song is the ultimate rebellion
The album is peppered with even more gems that compliment the perhaps more stand out hits of this album and explore new avenues for Demi, though nothing terribly ambitious there are hints throughout such as an unexpected collaboration with Lil Wayne on ‘Lonely’.
Concluding on the happy loved up note that is ‘Hitchhiker’, Demi establishes her album as when it comes down to it as just a thoroughly lovely time exploring the extent of her vocals, establishing the artist she wants to be after growing up in the lime light and when it comes down to showing just how strong her voice has become through her recovery.
