Jump to content

Salvation (Rebecca Black album)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salvation
Studio album by
Rebecca Black
ReleasedFebruary 27, 2025 (2025-02-27)
Genre
Length20:58
LabelRebecca Black
Producer
  • Marcus Andersson
  • Chris Lyon
  • Stint
  • Nightfeelings
  • Medium
  • Novodor
  • Johan Lenox
  • Zhone
Rebecca Black chronology
Let Her Burn
(2023) 		Salvation
(2025)
Singles from Salvation
  1. "Trust!"
    Released: October 18, 2024
  2. "Sugar Water Cyanide"
    Released: December 5, 2024
  3. "Salvation"
    Released: February 27, 2025

Salvation (stylised in all caps) is the second studio album[a] by American singer Rebecca Black. It was released independently on February 27, 2025, after the 2025 California wildfires caused it to be delayed by a month. The album has a stronger hyperpop influence than her previous album, Let Her Burn (2023).

Salvation explores the idealisation of female pop artists, along with themes such as queerhood and its place in religion. It was promoted with three singles, "Trust!", "Sugar Water Cyanide" and "Salvation", along with a tour across North America and Europe. It received mixed reviews upon release, with critics taking issue with the album's lyricism and production.

Background

[edit]

Black performed as a disc jockey at a Boiler Room show in September 2024; she ended it with a cover of her 2011 single "Friday" over the instrumental of Charli XCX's "360". Speaking to GRAMMY.com about the set, Black mentioned, "It was honestly one of the best times I've ever had DJing." Black wanted Salvation to be the direct opposite of her previous album, Let Her Burn (2023), calling it "a world of experimentation" and stating that she wanted it to feel "succinct and cohesive."[2]

In an interview with NME about Salvation, Black described it as "really quite different thematically" than Let Her Burn. When speaking about the track "American Doll", she expressed concerns about how female pop artists are expected to be flawless, stating, "You might feel like you're at your most competent and [at a] beautiful moment, but people will still find ways to pick it apart". She also discussed the religious themes of the title track, "Salvation", stating, "The idea of making a song about celebrating your own queerness in a religious context felt like taking back power. It also felt really fun."[3] Speaking with Newsweek, Black mentioned that the goal of the album was to explore.[4]

Singles and release

[edit]

Black released the single "Trust!" on October 18, 2024, along with a music video. Speaking with Paper, she stated, "It felt only right to kick off the next project with the loudest and brashest track I've put out yet, and 'TRUST!' embodies the essence of the fearlessness in this project better than anything."[5] "Sugar Water Cyanide" was released on December 5, 2024; Black called it "like if my drug of choice were a person" and said she wanted to "make THAT song you could only really hear on 100% volume in your car or busting through the bass in the club."[6]

The album was promoted with a tour from March to April across North America and Europe, covering the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada.[7] Salvation was released on February 27, 2025, along with the title track. The album came a month after its planned release due to a delay caused by the 2025 California wildfires. Black called it a "very obvious" decision and stated that she had spent the delay helping friends that had been damaged by the wildfires.[3]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic52/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
Paste2/10[9]
DIY[10]
The Line of Best Fit5/10[11]
The Needle Drop7/10[12][b]

Upon release, Salvation received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregating website Metacritic, the album received a normalised rating of 52 out of 100 based on 4 critical reviews.[8] Sam Franzini of The Line of Best Fit gave the album a 5/10 in an ambivalent review; he believed "Do You Even Think About Me?" to be thrilling but thought that the album lacked personality. Franzini stated, "The record is certainly sparkly, but its hollowness is glaring."[11]

Writing for DIY, Otis Robinson gave the album a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that it "proves Rebecca Black's got guts, and that it's time she got her flowers." Robinson called Salvation "huge", describing it as "no-skips" and comparing the track "Twist the Knife" to Kylie Minogue and Kim Petras.[10]

Paste music editor Matt Mitchell gave Salvation a 2/10, calling it "the first great pop failure in the wake of Charli xcx's BRAT supremacy." Mitchell criticised the lyricism of the album heavily, finding "American Doll" to be nonsensical and describing "Twist the Knife" as "an even greater blemish on the English language". Mitchell further took issue with the production, labeling songs like "Trust!" and "Do You Ever Think About Me?" as "any raggedy dance track spilling out of department store stereos".[9]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Salvation"
  • Lyon
  • Andersson
3:20
2."Trust!"BlackAjay Bhattacharyya2:51
3."Sugar Water Cyanide"BlackNightfeelings2:54
4."American Doll"
  • Medium
  • Nightfeelings
2:15
5."Tears In My Pocket"
  • Black
  • Lyon
  • Andersson
  • Lyon
  • Andersson
2:57
6."Do You Even Think About Me?"
  • Black
  • Lyon
  • Andersson
  • Lyon
  • Andersson
3:16
7."Twist the Knife"
  • Johan Lenox
  • Novodor
  • Zhone
3:25
Total length:20:58

Notes

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[13]

Musicians

[edit]
  • Rebecca Black – vocals
  • Chris Lyon – production (tracks 1, 5, 6)
  • Marcus Andersson – production (tracks 1, 5, 6)
  • Stint – production (track 2)
  • Nightfeelings – production (tracks 3, 4)
  • Medium – production (track 4)
  • Johan Lenox – production (track 7)
  • Novodor – production (track 7)
  • Zhone – production (track 7)
  • Lauren Aquilina – songwriting (track 1)
  • Clara Sofie Blom Christensen – songwriting (track 4)
  • Jesse Saint John – songwriting (track 7)

Technical

[edit]
  • Lars Stalfors – mixing
  • Alan JS Han – mixing
  • John Greenham – mastering
  • Matt Boerum – mastering

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Sources generally refer to Salvation as an album; Black noted in an interview with The Times that she calls it a "project" because it only has 7 tracks.[1]
  2. ^ Fantano specifically gave the album "a decent to strong 7".[12]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Schofield 2025.
  2. ^ Rodriguez 2025.
  3. ^ a b Levine 2025.
  4. ^ Snedgar 2025.
  5. ^ Campbell 2024.
  6. ^ Dork 2024.
  7. ^ Rude 2024.
  8. ^ a b Metacritic n.d.
  9. ^ a b Mitchell 2025.
  10. ^ a b Robinson 2025.
  11. ^ a b Franzini 2025.
  12. ^ a b Fantano 2025.
  13. ^ Tidal n.d.

References

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salvation_(Rebecca_Black_album)&oldid=1282217739"