Graphic by Diego Gonzalez

By Diego Gonzalez

Rochelle Jordan’s (she/her) new album Through The Wall, released September 27, 2025, is the artist’s most confident, atmospheric and experimental record yet, refining her sound into an intricate blend of club beats, deep house, and alternative R&B. She expands the possibilities explored in her previous album, Play With The Changes (2021), a record that put her on the map as a uniquely skilled R&B artist, now weaving these skills through various different genres to create an innovative sound of her own. Taking obvious influence from many different inspirations, including Solange, Kelela, and even Underworld, Through The Wall presents a wide range of sounds and beats while still managing to sound cohesive all the way through its 17-track run. Despite its many influences, this is still a purely dance album, keeping its energy through the high-energy house beats that are complimented by addictive electronic melodies. This album also relies heavily on repetition; repetition of lyrics, choruses, melodies and beats, but Jordan is able to avoid redundancy through very specific yet subdued and elegant experimentation. This use of repetition is highly reminiscent of Underworld’s Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994), Jordan similarly taking what may otherwise be a standard club beat and raising it to spiritual proportions. The repetition evokes a sense of ritual transcendence in line with other recent dance masterpieces like FKA Twigs’ EUSEXUA (2025). There are arguably touches of trip-hop infused into the album as well, further accentuating its spiritual essence.

Opening with the minute-long choral track “Grace,” listeners enter through a dreamlike portal into the heavenly atmosphere of this album, beginning with a moment of soft, sultry bliss before it throws you into the beat-heavy and addictive “Ladida.” From then on, Through The Wall consists entirely of dance songs, but each one presents its own unique perspective and sonic vision that just gives you no choice but to dive deeper into this intricately produced and transcendent late night fantasy. “The Boy” invites you to dance away your cares for a crush over KAYTRANADA’s production that brings to mind The Velvet Rope (1997), while tracks like “Crave” and “Doing it Too” play on your expectations with accessible house beats that are elevated by sparing instrumentation and subtly altered repetition that speak to Jordan’s R&B sensibilities. In terms of lyrical content, the album explores themes of romantic longing and self-assurance, par for the course for many club/dance/R&B albums, but the production is what really makes this album shine. Every small detail of this record is intentional and necessary, a vocalization here and added synth there and more all work in tandem to create a completely substantial listening experience that elevates Through The Wall from a compelling electronic or house album to being a new milestone in music entirely. With releases like EUSEXUA, Amaarae’s BLACK STAR, and now Through The Wall, this year has been a gold mine for enthusiasts of all things dance and electronic, and with this release, Jordan is clearly eager to take her place among the pioneers of the genre. Comparisons aside, though, this album stands alone for the way it is able to balance elegance and sensuality along with energetic dance. If you’re a fan of Janet Jackson, Solange, Björk, Tinashe, or Ravyn Lenae, this album will not only be up your alley, it might just be your album of the year.