Album Review: Jennifer Lopez – This Is Me… Now
2 min read
J.Lo… Jennifer Lopez… Jennifer Lynn Affleck!! The all-around entertainment goddess returns with her ninth studio album, This Is Me… Now, after ten long years from previous album A.K.A. Released via Nuyorican Productions (J.Lo’s company) and BMG Rights Management, the album promised to have more of a confessional tone than previous albums. Considered the sequel of 2002 album This Is Me…Then, Lopez describes the album (and accompanying $20 million movie) as an emotional, spiritual, and psychological journey she has taken.
Beginning with an ode to sacrifices her mother made, and where she is at this moment in time, title track This Is Me… Now sounds like something from her first LP, and this throwback feel continues with the more up-tempo tracks To Be Yours (featuring vocals from Chaka Khan) and Mad in Love. The first single release, Can’t Get Enough, is up next, with samples taken from Alton Ellis’ 1967 song I’m Still in Love With You – a nice enough light pop song which leans heavily on Alton’s classic to provide the hook. Like the first three tracks, Not. Going. Anywhere. also has an early J.Lo feel to it, but, unlike the first three tracks, simultaneously feels new and fresh. Second single released, Rebound, features Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA, and is an easy to listen to, solid pop song – no out of placed breaks or screaming… but equally nothing particularly remarkable.
Dear Ben, Pt. II follows from the 2002 This Is Me… Then track, Dear Ben, and whilst on the earlier track, J.Lo sings about the intense romance she has with Affleck, the follow up covers a rekindling of love after years apart, and how it finally feels to be husband and wife. That ballad (of sorts) is followed by a short, chirpy (pun intended) track, Hummingbird, which leads to Hearts and Flowers, which almost feels like a homage to her smash hit, Jenny from the Block – indeed part of that track appears here.
If you like stripped-back, slow ballads that are heavy on vocals acoustic guitar, then Broken Like Me is one for you, contrasted by the subsequent track This Time Around, where drum machines and synths dominate, whilst Midnight Trip to Vegas tries to combine both, starting stripped-back and ending with full on beats and synths. Rounding off events, J.Lo ends with Greatest Love Story Never Told – a reflection on 20 years love lost (to now husband, Ben Affleck).
The level you enjoy This Is Me… Now will likely be directly correlated to your happiness at the return of “The Bennifer”. The album is dominated, to the point of oversaturation, with the chronicling of the rekindled relationship. Some tracks are fun, and there are some nice nostalgic hat-tips, but the album heavily leans on these and the fairy tale love narrative, which gets stale quickly.
