Mariah The Scientist is back with her new album Hearts Sold Separately via Epic Records.
Executive produced by Nineteen85 of dvsn, the project includes her breakout hit “Burning Blue” and the Kali Uchis-assisted “Is It a Crime.”
With ’80s R&B sensibilities running through the 10-track set, Mariah The Scientist wields her pen with precision as she marches through love’s battlefield.
The opener, “Sacrifice,” puts her directly in the frontlines as she grapples with the emotional strain of being in love from a distance. Part of her feels hopeless, yet her devoted heart remains patient. “It’s been at least three hundred days / I got stuck in your maze, oh / I’m all out of places to run / But we’ll find a way out,” she sings.
The longing and devotion are reinforced on the butter-smooth “All I Want + Pursuit”: “Don’t you ever leave me, don’t you ever go too far / I wanna be where you are.”
On “United Nations,” Mariah brings love to a spiritual and social level. Here, she references the Book of Genesis in the Bible (“So the Lord said, ‘Let there be light’”), where she calls on her Higher Power for more unity in a world divided: “Lord, send me some good vibrations now / Help me to unite these nations now.”
Other standouts include “Eternal Flame” and “Rainy Days.” On the latter downcast ballad, she sings, “I stare at an open sky and pray for rain / Hopeful like the flowers, bet they feel the same way.”
Speaking on the inspiration behindHearts Sold Separately,Mariah told Rolling Stone, “The climate of the world made me want to make a whole project about love. I feel like nobody prioritizes love. Everybody looks at love like it’s a problem. I feel like back in the day, it wasn’t like that.”
Hearts Sold Separatelyfollows Mariah The Scientist’s 2023 album,To Be Eaten Alive.The latter project included collaborations with Young Thug, 21 Savage and Vory.
Stream Mariah The Scientist’s new albumHearts Sold Separatelybelow.