Kali Uchis, “Red Moon in Venus.”

The latest in a line of albums exploring love in all its forms, Kali Uchis‘ Red Moon in Venus does a great job of communicating feeling through music and production as well as through the Colombian American’s rich vocals.

Full of woozy synths that shift tones lower and lower, melodic bass and sharp electronic percussion, the album does much more than set the mood; it serves you dinner and runs a bath.

The artist has described this collection of 15 songs, many that barely reach three minutes, as an expression of desire, faith, heartbreak and honesty. The types of love aren’t strictly romantic. Uchis seems to realize that other kinds of love, including self-love, releasing people from a bond and the love that stability brings can all come with another level of contentment. The album title plays into the message, summoning femininity through the images of the moon and Venus.

Following a short scene-setting intro full of chirping crickets and birdsong, Uchis’ third album drops us off in the gauzy filtered soundscape of “I Wish You Roses.” Her delivery on this single plays like another instrument on top of the existing melody.

“I wish you well/ I wish you roses while you can still smell,” she sings, releasing a lover to go find happiness elsewhere, even without regretting the experience they shared together.

Omar Apollo then drops in on the following track, “Worth the Wait,” delivering the lovesick opening line, “I wanna be around you every day.” Kali Uchis refocuses her attention to her own desires, interweaving her own lyrics around his. While the song is unique from the preceding one, highlighted by twinkling organ keys and funky bass, it feels like a continuation; opening a new door after letting one shut. And the following track, “Love Between,” is like a slow dance long after everyone else has left. “Love between two human beings can be so wonderful/ You make me happy/ You make my soul smile,” Uchis coos. There’s no snark, no double entendres; the beauty here is in the earnestness.

On “All Mine” Uchis claps back at anyone who thinks they have a chance at stealing her lover and takes joy in her victory. That’s followed by another highlight in “Fantasy,” featuring rapper Don Toliver, which kicks off the song with a warbling croon over detuned piano strokes before Uchis joins in for the duet. The two play a couple working through an argument and end the night together.

The middle of the record has a couple of two-minute Spanish language ballads, “Como Te Quiero Yo” (How I Love You) and “Hasta Cuando” (Even When), both of which are about overcoming differences and past trouble, and finding common ground. It portrays a more mature kind of love that’s not over-reactive. The latter tune is especially a jam, picking up the pace temporarily. “Please don’t ask me about no old shit,” she concludes.

The album then returns to candlelight territory on “Endlessly” but detours into revenge territory on “Moral Conscious,” a spacey jam where Kali Uchis sings about karma coming for someone who’s transgressed. It’s not immediately obvious how it plays into the larger narrative, but it allows a diversion from the lovey-dovey stuff. “Not Too Late” then leads into the album’s second half highlights: “Blue” is accented by a lonely saxophone and Uchis’ hushed spoken-word delivery that contrasts her evocative singing.

Summer Walker then guests on “Deserve Me,” one the album’s sonically heavier songs with thumping bass and hip-hop percussion. The sensual “Moonlight,” the latest single, is the closest Red Moon in Venus comes to a title track and sets up album closer “Happy Now”—an upbeat pop song! Sonically it feels like a complete curveball on which to end an album, but thematically it finds Kali Uchis having found contentment not only with those around her but with herself.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.