The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
RINI deserves to be championed for the way he writes about love. The 23-year-old Australian-born singer released his official debut album, Constellations, this past Friday, three years removed from his beautiful 2018 EP, After The Sun. Both projects focus on the dealings that occur after sundown, but Constellations takes an out-of-this-world touch to RINI’s music, offering a beautiful love story that any hopeless romantic would die for 00 even though it seems far too good to be true. The young singer also receives help from Wale, a wordsmith certified to speak about the ups and downs of love, and Maeta, a newcomer who also has a fresh takes on romance to share.
Constellations leans heavily on brute honesty. RINI shows no fear, with the confidence that the woman he desires so much is the one. It’s no surprise that he lays all his cards face-up before her. “Red Lights,” the first song of the album, evokes the hair-pulling wait that occurs en route to a new flame. It’s clear that the relationship is new and fresh as his eagerness makes a routine stop at a red light far more grueling than usual. Backed by production that amplifies RINI’s lusty cries, you can feel his urge to cut corners and break rules to reach his desired destination.
Behind this song’s literal meaning comes a metaphor as well. The “red lights” RINI bemoans also signify the necessary breaks one should take as a relationship grows. RINI obeys these procedures, going from the realization of falling in love on “Over Some Wine” and “Butterflies” — so much so that it even surprises himself — to surefire commitment on “For Days” and “Craving.” RINI trusted the process and it got him all he wanted and more.
An impressive aspect of the album is RINI’s ability to spend so much time on the “cloud nine” period of love without sounding redundant. From “Butterflies” to the outro track of Constellations, RINI falls down a neverending tunnel of love. It helps that he also slightly pivots his focus through each track. “Mimosa” and “Need It” present a warm yearning for his partner’s return during their time apart while “Bedtime Story” begs to make their moments of intimacy last forever. “Talk To Me,” as on “Out Of The Blue,” seeks the reassurance to confirm he’s that he’s not the only one head-over-heels four times over in this relationship. Listeners are given just enough to understand nearly all of RINI’s feelings in romance without becoming suffocating.
It makes perfect sense that RINI named his debut Constellations. The way he presents it through the album’s 12 songs, love is as beautiful as the stars in the sky. In both cases, when you truly fall for it, you’ll crave its return throughout the day, immerse yourself in its beauty at nightfall, and dread its departure as the sun returns to begin the next day. He also believes love’s best moments occur once the sun goes down. Whether it’s the vulnerability that the darkest hours present or the inactive state of the world that allows for uninterrupted intimacy, it’s ironically the time where his romance blooms.
Constellations is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.