After 17 minutes of listening to The Leo Sun Sets, I had reached a destination that proved the journey was worth the wait; unfortunately, a negative journey has the ability to taint an entire trip, and that’s exactly what happened in Serena Isioma’s newest EP.

If I were the type of listener who listened to extended plays out of order, I’m sure that I could’ve muscled up some inspiration to write positively about this musical endeavor. But, I’m a firm believer in the order songs are put in, and this order was a choice. This EP fails to showcase Isioma’s talents and presents them in a lackluster, mediocre way—their only saving grace being the closer. 

The Leo Sun Sets is a journey through music; each song conveys that it’s going to lead me somewhere, but after each song finished, I started to realize that with each additional track, I was only getting more and more lost. Each song is the drive to a party, but the ride is laden with missed turns, near accidents, and countless potholes. 

Although I ultimately reached the party after walking through the doors, I was too exhausted to appreciate the good time that had been promised to me. 

Starting the journey with “King,” I immediately recognized that this was not an EP I was meant to truly listen to. The song opened with the lyric, “One, two, three… sexy” and was immediately followed by a bass drop; the nature of this moment was so ridiculous that I felt myself bearing the weight of second-hand embarrassment for the rest of the song. 

As I sat in my bed, letting the songs cascade over me one by one, I was lulled into a dull daydream that I only awoke from after hearing a song that was so different from the rest that it made me sit up. “Stop Calling The Police On Me” combined all the vapid sounds of the previous six songs and created a vivid, imaginative track.

The closing song was an invitation to the dance floor after a night of sitting in the bleachers. It was eye-opening, and it gave me hope for a future for Isioma in which they take more risks and let their voice roam. What made this song stand out from the rest was its emphasis on Isioma’s voice that had previously been lost in the cacophony of electronic sounds in the past tracks. “Stop Calling The Police On Me” was the first chance I had to say hello to Isioma’s voice, and it hurt to have had to say goodbye so soon.

As much as I loved the closing song, it can’t make up for the betrayal I felt from Isioma for getting my hopes up in every song only to fall into the mold that so many R&B songs are confined to. Though Serena Isioma has a committed fan base, they’re far from an uprising, yet “Stop Calling The Police on Me” is the first step. They may have faltered, but they haven’t fallen yet.

Though this EP has made me wary of embarking on any new journeys any time soon, I can’t say I’d say no to a drive with “Stop Calling The Police On Me.”

After all, who would turn down a shortcut to a party?