Published by Mason Oldridge, 23 February 2024
Swedish pop superstar Zara Larsson is back with an album full of dance-pop bangers, with a couple of slower songs thrown in for good measure.
The album opens strong with lead single Can’t Tame Her. Several other catchy pop songs follow, including None of These Guys with a beat that instantly pulls you in, strings-based End of Time and the standout You Love Who You Love. Production values on these tracks are high, ensuring a prominent dance element throughout, and demonstrate Larsson’s impressive vocals.
Unfortunately, the album’s quality tails off towards the latter half, with less memorable pop tracks. The slower songs such as Soundtrack and closing piano track The Healing are not the best, which is disappointing having just witnessed some of Larsson’s best work since her 2015 summer anthem Lush Life.
Despite being a tale of two halves, Venus contains some of Larsson’s strongest material to date and this 26-year-old pop sensation shows no sign of stopping keeping up with the best pop music going.
7/10