Demi Lovato’s ‘Holy Fvck’ Gets Darker and Ruder Without Ditching Killer Choruses: Album Review

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi The roads taken by Demi Lovato have never been a simple stroll. Since the uncomplicated teen-pop of her 2008 debut, “Don’t Forget,” her growing up has found her music growing into a palate of smoky soul and glossy R&B, driven by her powerfully emotive voice and increasingly contentious lyrics inspired by the complications of her psyche, the mire of mental health, a messed-up childhood and the algebra of need that is addiction.

Lovato’s had her bruises, and it always pretty much shows in her music.Announcing to Instagram that she’d conducted a “funeral” for her pop and R&B sides, as she did in January 2022, probably did not come as a shock to anyone who knows how Lovato is usually ready with turn-on-a-dime life and career moves based on mood, emotion and self-discovery.

That she actually went ahead amped up the crunchy guitars and industrialized rhythms, added a patina of crustiness to her usually clarion-clear vocals and went for the emo-rocking entirety of “Holy Fvck” actually does manage to surprise a bit.

How many pop artists announce they’re going to take that severe a turn and then do what they said they were going to? There is genuine ire and outrage to be found throughout “Holy Fvck,” including a title that may keep the physical versions out of some family-friendly stores, no matter what font subterfuge she uses. (Wal-Mart has it available via shipping only.) There’s enough spikiness in its overall production and songwriting (principally by Lovato, Warren “Oak” Felder, Alex Niceforo and Keith “Ten4” Sorrells) to shred your fishnets.