2010s pop virality has long defined singer-songwriter Rebecca Black’s reputation. At 13, she took the leap into music with her single “Friday,” a song so hated it has defined her musical persona for the last 14 years. As of 2025, it remains a platinum ruin in the archives of YouTube virality, regardless of your opinion.
One Katy Perry music video feature and over a decade of self-discovery later, Black embraced her notoriety by trusting in her talent and pursuing new sounds. Her 2023 full-length debut album “Let Her Burn” saw a mature, self-assured Black reenter the stage with a point to prove. With campy, electronic sounds and unfiltered lyrical sentiments, she surged back into the spotlight and is now revered as one of the newest gay icons in pop music.
“SALVATION,” Black’s sophomore album, is stylistically excessive — at times even overwhelming — but has occasional pockets of gold that are certainly worth remembering. Her attempts to emulate queer electronic artists like Slayyyter or former collaborator Dorian Electra are evident, though at times fall short and end up sounding sloppy and periodically saccharine. Title track “Salvation,” which opens the album, sees ferocious drumlines, organ-esque synths and a sassy, almost rap-like delivery wrapped around a half-baked chorus. “I don’t need you to save me / I already saved myself,” she barks over the slow build of the beat, with cliché affirmations aplenty.
To listeners’ brief elation, “TRUST!” and “Sugar Water Cyanide” feel like a complete 180 where, for a moment, the album moves into a sprint after a momentary tumble. “TRUST!” has the energy of a black cat: sexy and assertive as electric guitar shreds and runway beats persist. Meanwhile, “Sugar Water Cyanide” is an incessant and bass-boosted club track, reminiscent of pink miniskirts, tequila-soaked limes and the bedazzled pistol found on the album’s cover. Stamina, however, seems to be quite an issue on this record, as Black soon returns to ill-conceived skeletal pop tracks that lack a heartbeat.
“American Doll,” “Tears In My Pocket” and “Do You Even Think About Me?” come firing sonically with the quintessential hyperpop sound but lack the catchiness and cohesion that tracks like “Sugar Water Cyanide” possess. Black’s verses feel short and incomplete in these tracks, each closing with the empty sense that something else is about to happen.
Relevance has never been Rebecca Black’s issue, and her talents span beyond pop music: She has led a Boiler Room set and had her own DJ slot at Coachella, proving she is not to be slept on. Although her talents seem to signal that the pop scene has yet to witness the singer’s full capabilities, “SALVATION” is admittedly very far from Black’s magnum opus.
Contact Ian Sleat at [email protected].