There’s nothing out there quite like Lubalin’s latest genre-defying project, whose love. Difficult to predict and impossible to categorize, whose love finds the daring singer, songwriter and producer exploring feelings of longing, love, loss and regret with nine new tracks, with no two sounding alike (including the final two songs, which are reworks of “paint me a picture” and “never gonna let it”).
Driven by glitchy, emotive vocals and absolutely spectacular production, whose love draws influence from R&B, pop and electronic music, but manages to mesh different aspects of these genres in a way that hasn’t quite been done before. Opening the album is the sparse, heartbreaking title track, “whose love”, followed closely by the massive “nobody else,” which is filled to the bring with longing and desire. Glitchy and auto-tuned, Lubalin’s voice is still the forefront of “nobody else”, but rather than taking the lead over the song’s production, it feels like another instrument, manipulated to fit the mood and tone of the song. Then there’s the massive, theatrical and dark “dougie jones”, which features one of the strongest vocal performances on the album. It’s only outdone by the short yet mind-blowing “what if it’s not enough?”. A massive pop track that could easily be compared to the likes of The Weeknd, the one minute and forty-one seconds of “what if it’s not enough?” is packed to the brim with a strong beat, hip-hop influenced verses, a stunning refrain and a massive chorus. Ironically, considering the song’s title, it is more than enough.
Taking things one step further before the end, Lubalin reworks “never gonna let it” and “paint me a picture” in two completely different ways that only go to prove his songwriting prowess, as if you’re going to need that by the end. While the original version of “paint me a picture” is is a total slow jam, “paint me a picture (but it’s totally different)” is a guitar driven ballad. Meanwhile the hopeful “never gonna let it” is an EDM-leaning bright spot on the album that is only made stronger on “never gonna let it (but it’s totally different)” which picks up the pace with a catchy bass tone and club beat. It also perfectly brings the album to a close with the line, “something in me wants me to lose / but i’m never gonna let it”.
It can be challenging in 2022 to find something that is genuinely exciting to listen to, something that you’re not hearing in every other top 40 single, but it’s safe to say that whose love is exactly that. Each song on the album shines on its own, making up an exciting and unique collection of songs.