Mahalia’s newest album, “LOVE AND COMPROMISE,” tells the story of relationships both new and old in a contemporary style that infuses rhythm and blues with pop and afrobeat flair. The 21-year-old English artist released her second full-length album on September 6. 

Mahalia starts out the album with an interview with multi-talented personality Eartha Kitt from 1982. The sound bit, juxtaposed at the beginning of the first track “Hide Out,” discusses Kitt’s thoughts on love and compromise, setting the tone for the rest of the album. “Hide Out” follows a smooth R&B beat, capturing Mahalia’s emotions about catching a partner in the act of lying. This song is definitely one of the best on the album.

“I Wish I Missed My Ex” and “Do Not Disturb” are some of the artist’s older and more popular songs to appear on the album. In “I Wish I Missed My Ex,” Mahalia employs a more upbeat and almost pop style, creating an empowering breakup song about an ex-lover chasing after her. This style could be compared to a song like “Truth Hurts” by artist Lizzo. This song is an absolute bop.

One of the first feature songs on the album is “Simmer ft. Burna Boy,” which is the most popular new song on the album, standing at #51 on the UK Top Singles Chart. Burna Boy and Mahalia play the parts of a couple at odds in their relationship that creates a collaborative dialogue. This particular track explores the afrobeat style of the album.

In “Good Company ft. Terrace Martin,” Mahalia collaborates with the American producer to create a catchy beat in the chorus to back the independent lyrics, “I like a kinda guy that will wait for it, ‘Cause I need to be in good company.”

“LOVE AND COMPROMISE” is available for streaming on Spotify and Google Play.

“Nothing wrong with being regular people,” Mahalia sings on the track “Regular People ft. Hamzaa and Lucky Daye.” Hamzaa’s feature is definitely one of the best on the album. Lucky Daye, with over 1,000,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, earned the song a popular spot on the album. As an R&B artist, he fits perfectly on the song. This track for sure has the best features on the album and gives exposure to smaller United Kingdom based artists like Hamzaa.

“What You Did ft. Ella Mai” is the last feature on the album. Mai’s beautiful and unique voice fits the song and complements Mahalia’s voice quite well. They collaboratively sing about the implications of deciding whether to forgive a partner for past mistakes. With over 190,000,000 listens on her hit song “Boo’d Up,” Mai is definitely the most popular feature on the album that will be great exposure for Mahalia.

Also put out as a single before the album was released, “Square 1” is a low-key song that is more reminiscent of Mahalia’s older discography. She sings about going back and forth from the friend zone to being together. Also included in the track is a short clip where Mahalia speaks candidly about the topic. It provided a good end to the album.

Stepping away from her roots and outside of her comfort zone, Mahalia made a fantastic album the encompasses her brand as an artist. Her success in past tracks will undoubtedly follow her onto this album as well.

RATING: 7/10

BEST TRACKS: “I Wish I Missed My Ex,” “Good Company ft. Terrace Martin,” and “Regular People.”

WORST TRACKS: “He’s Mine,” “Richie,” and “Consistency.”

Ava McCall can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @avamcollegian.