Tori Kelly recently released a 16-track album called, “Inspired by True Events”. With a title like that I expected a powerful album that featured stories from her life that affected her deeply — which is exactly what I got.
Kelly has varied her style from pop to gospel music in the past and knowing this, I wasn’t sure what to expect — but I was excited anyway.
One aspect of the album I enjoyed was the four interludes she included. Each were short soundbites from what seemed like home movies from her childhood, these soundbites lead you into the theme of the next song making the listening experience powerful.
One interlude “8/28/1997,” featured Kelly speaking with her parents about growing up. Which lead you into the next song “Kid I Used to Know,” hitting on a longing for your childhood when things get tough and how we want to go back to a care-free time.
Another interlude, “3/26/1994” features a prayer which perfectly leads into the song “Your Words,” a ballad about the pain of losing a loved one. The song leans more toward her faith-based music as it features a gospel choir and themes about wanting to reach someone when they’re in heaven.
The love songs, such as “Coffee” and “Sorry Would Go a Long Way,” are where her strongest vocals lie. The music offers a softer sound, allowing her vocals to make the song — being the songs strongest aspect. Other songs such as “Pretty Fades,” “Actress” and “The Lie” are more focused on social commentary on issues such as mental health and the value of looks or money in a person’s life.
One of my favorite songs on the album was “Language”. In this song her vocal range was shown off the best, as the song has a blues music feel to it, which Kelly said was the inspiration for her earliest songs.
More than just a strong vocal range, the music offers a good message about relationships. A lot of couples have issues because they don’t understand each other’s communication style and this song is about navigating this in a relationship.
Her album had a smooth progression to it. The more lighthearted songs that sound like a typical pop song are towards the beginning while songs about not understanding yourself and dealing with death are towards the end of the album.
One choice I loved was how Kelly put “Before the Dawn” at the end of the album. With all of the pain that Kelly discusses in the songs prior, “Before the Dawn” theme of pushing through to better times gives off an optimistic feel and ties up the album well. “Inspired by True Events” I offered a diversity in music styles and the themes that did not disappoint me. This is the strongest album that Kelly has put out thus far. Especially since there’s something for almost anyone to enjoy.
Rating: 4.5/5
Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected]