Ruby marks the debut album of Blackpink’s Jennie. And what an album! She aptly demonstrates her versatility, her charm, and most importantly: her sheer presence, as domineering as ever. A sonically experimental tribute to her illustrious predecessors, she nevertheless manages to make each song sound uniquely hers.

A sonically experimental tribute to her illustrious predecessors

It opens with snatches of her looped voice; she’s softly murmuring over what sounds like a delicately subdued music box while the instrumentation slowly reveals its subtle intricacies. She quickly and wisely sheds this for a darker, more aggressive sound over tracks such as the boastful tough-girl raps ‘like JENNIE’ and ‘ExtraL’. The latter, in particular, is an unassailable brilliant collaboration with American rapper Doechii that hears them celebrate their self-made success with men and music alike, going so far as to wear matching glamorous monochromatic outfits in the music video.

Her finest track on this album, in my opinion, is ‘Handlebars’, her playfully flirtatious duet with Dua Lipa. A smooth, mid-tempo R&B track with an understated groove, it contains some of the catchiest lyrics (‘a single kiss, I lost my mind…for seven days and seven nights’) as well as pretty vocal harmonies when they sing the chorus together. It is a refreshing shift from both women who are known primarily for pricklier sonic palettes (see ‘New Rules’, ‘Solo’). The muted drums over the chorus line sound like a heartbeat; an easy metaphor for falling in love and yet still appreciated for making the listener feel smart for hearing it. The fact that this song has an aesthetically stunning accompanying video (all that glitter and colour, I’m obsessed!) that doesn’t actually lean into the cycling imagery the lyrics contain (a creative choice that I am baffled by) should be yet another sign that you should watch it.

She has proven herself a confident pop maverick

The latter half of the album slides into some faster-paced production as it begins fluctuating between plainly delivered verses, smoky whispers and assertive rapping. If, perhaps, the lyrics are a little too repetitive and generic for taste, the sleek synths and beat switches keeps the listener largely invested. She has proven herself a confident pop maverick who has the ability to take the listener through various emotional states across an album.