Kim Petras is done playing it safe. According to Rolling Stone's review, her new album Detour is a total reset.
The pop star, 33, has spent the past decade under Dr. Luke's production control, releasing hits that rarely matched the scrutiny they attracted. Even her Grammy-winning collaboration with Sam Smith, "Unholy," felt peripheral to her career rather than central to it. That changes now.
On Detour, Petras tells her story directly. The album opens with the title track—"This is the beginning of the end. Everything before is just pretend"—and moves forward without nostalgia. She brought in hyperpop duo Frost Children, producer Margo XS (who worked on Zara Larsson's Midnight Sun), and electronic producer Nightfeelings.
Midway through comes "Brutalist." She sings about demolished buildings, but the song is really about her transition. She draws parallels to her late father, an architect who took her to psychiatry appointments as a child. "They bulldozered it, they didn't give a shit," she sings. "I guess I ruined it." It is the most personal work she has released.
The first three tracks—"Detour," "DTLA," and "I Like Ur Look"—establish the album's direction: a pop star reclaiming control of her own work.
Earlier this year, Petras asked to be released from her Republic Records contract, saying the label had repeatedly delayed the album's release. She ended the deal rather than salvage it.
Detour is her real debut.
