West wrangles a surprisingly cohesive collection, his best album since 2010\u2032s „My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.“<\/b>
\n\u201cDonda\u201d by Kanye West (Def Jam\/UMG) Kanye West donned a full face mask to host three livestreamed listening parties for his 10th studio album. Beyond that, he didn\u2019t say a word, or even tweet. After years of alienating longtime fans with forays into conservative politics and sometimes exhausting media spectacle, pop\u2019s King of All Controversy mostly let the music speak for him when unveiling \u201cDonda.\u201d In the tradition of Marvin Gaye\u2019s \u201cHere, My Dear\u201d or Phil Collins\u2019 \u201cFace Value,\u201d it\u2019s a prickly, personal divorce album full of introspection, conflicting emotions and bursts of musical innovation. It\u2019s also a nearly-overbooked showcase for of-the-moment talent, some half West\u2019s age: Shenseea, Fivio Foreign, Baby Keem, The Weeknd, Lil Yachty, Roddy Ricch. There\u2019s drill music alongside church organs \u2014 so many organs! There\u2019s New Kanye earnest praise of God \u2014 \u201che\u2019s done miracles on me\u201d \u2014 mingling with Old Kanye jokey self-awareness: \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, we all liars,\u201d \u201cI repent for everything that I\u2019mma do again.\u201d There\u2019s reggae legend Buju Banton, rap legends JAY-Z, The LOX and Jay Electronica, multiple jabs at longtime foil Drake. Its 27 tracks clock in at one hour,49 minutes. It turns out it may not be a divorce album after all: At the final listening party in Chicago, West appeared to set himself on fire then reconcile with his estranged wife, who wore a veiled wedding dress. OK, so maybe he\u2019s not quite done with the media spectacle thing. It\u2019s a lot to take in. But West somehow wrangles a surprisingly cohesive collection, his best album since 2010\u2032s \u201cMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.\u201d There\u2019s a vague narrative arc, from sinning to salvation, that\u2019s reflected in dark sonic beauty. Wobbly synth stabs on openers \u201cJail\u201d and \u201cGod Breathed\u201d jangle nerves, \u201cYeezus\u201d-style, while long, reflective chords bring a feeling of ecstatic ascension to the gorgeous closing pair of \u201cCome to Life\u201d and \u201cNo Child Left Behind.\u201d West leans into pain throughout, reflecting on his mother Donda\u2019s 2007 death and marital failures. The searing and bright \u201cBelieve What I Say\u201d finds him rapping over a Lauryn Hill sample to directly address Kim Kardashian West and \u201ccelebrity drama that only Brad will know. Too many family secrets.\u201d Rocker Marilyn Manson is credited as a songwriter on \u201cJail\u201d and was on hand at the Chicago listening party, a classic West provocation that many fans won\u2019t forgive after Manson was dropped by his own record label in February amid sexual abuse accusations. It \u201cgets the people going,\u201d yes, and West seems to intend Manson\u2019s inclusion as part of his broader exploration of duality, morality, mortality, legacy. \u201cPure Souls,\u201d a standout, has a chanted chorus that transforms halfway from the Trumpian aphorism \u201cThe truth is only what you get away with\u201d to the existential \u201cThe truth the only thing you get away with.\u201d As ever, though, West is more focused on evoking feeling through sound than complex wordplay. The sung melody of \u201cRemote Control\u201d is so emotionally arresting that it\u2019s hard to fault Young Thug for the lyrics \u201cI live on the Titanic, I can rock your boat.\u201d While the many guests deliver career-best verses, particularly Fivio Foreign\u2019s \u201cOff the Grid\u201d tale of restarting after jail, they can meander off-topic and distract from West\u2019s throughline. Still, \u201cDonda\u201d represents a revival, in every sense of the word, for one of pop\u2019s most singular talents.<\/p>\n