Kehlani, “blue water road.”

“It’s only your passion how you move by,” Kehlani sang at the end of their 2020 track “Open (Passionate).” Even if it’s a lyric that describes someone else, it surmises Kehlani’s approach to both songwriting and vocal delivery perfectly. And their ability to present lucid and emotional lyrics with utmost ease and clarity is no different on their studio album blue water road.

The new era began in 2021 with “altar,” an ode to those Kehlani lost but who continue watching over them. The effortlessly catchy lead single may feel a bit more produced and upbeat than the rest of the album, but the track’s emotional charge and pulsing energy fit right alongside the rest of the album’s stories.

Blue water road is a rush of emotion from beginning to end. Sonically and lyrically, it serves as a display of the Oakland singer-songwriter’s evolving musical styles and their ability to deliver both heartwarming and sexually rich stories through lyrics. Kehlani’s voice is as gorgeous as ever, the songs increasingly falling into a loosely rapped or neo-soul style.

In astrological terms, Kehlani’s moon placement—said to rule one’s emotions, vulnerability and maternal side—is in Pisces. With resounding accuracy, this means Kehlani is highly influenced by the emotions of those around them, feels things passionately and experiences moments in waves. That’s blue water road, where the music often feels ambient or pulsating around the speakers while Kehlani drifts from vulnerability to sensuality.

“Little story” opens the album with an acoustic guitar and lyrics of longing to be included in their partner’s life’s story. “I want you to love me again and complete our little story/ We got one hell of a story, you’re a hell of an author,” the artist sings in the chorus. It’s an introduction to the themes of watery, ambient production and highly intimate stories told through the rest of the project.

“Melt” begins with Kehlani lying in bed with a woman, wondering whose hair is whose and only being able to differentiate their skin by Kehlani’s tattoos (they have a lot). “That’s when I melt into you,” they swoon and moan through the chorus, drawing nearly every syllable out into a vocal endeavor of its own. “Matching your breath/ Follow your chest up and down/ Open your legs/ Secrets spill out your mouth,” they sing in the second verse.

The same energy is found in the snappy, deep beat of “tangerine,” with lyrics like, “I can taste me on you.” Their partner is compared to everything from honey to pineapples and nectar as they pollinate one another. Kehlani’s vocals harmonize and increase the sexual tension already oozing from the lyrics.

There’s a string of collaborations throughout. “Up At Night” with Justin Bieber is the most radio-friendly of the duets, even if it’s not the strongest. There’s the moody and subdued “get me started” with Syd (of The Internet), where the duo’s voices are almost indiscernible from one another, moving along a slow, pulsing beat. On “more than I should,” Kehlani and Jessie Reyez sing of girls that are bad at love. The chorus features one of the album’s best lyrical observations: “I like/ The way you treat your mama/ ‘Cause it shows you how someone will come and treat their woman.”

Kehlani concludes the album with “wondering/wandering,” beginning over a light piano before the R&B-oriented beat comes in. The final collaboration, with Thundercat and Ambre, is swirling and pensive as Kehlani oscillates between how they feel about a relationship. The final moments twinkle with the dialogue between Kehlani and her child noticing the blue in the water. It’s a tender final touch to show the breadth of emotion and life the Oakland artist channels into the finite moments of blue water road.

Follow Domenic Strazzabosco at Twitter.com/domenicstrazz and Instagram.com/domenicstrazz.