Johanna Kuvaja has never been backwards in coming forward. Not in her music anyway. But if modern pop, particularly that which leans on an R&B groove, sassy soulfulness and gentle but enticing dance moves, isn’t the place to get all forward and flirty, to say what you think and be bold, then I don’t know where is. And if the previous single, Shower, presented her at her unbashful best, then Wanna Make Love To You digs a little deeper.
Rather than projecting the more candid and naughty image of before, this time out she revels in a one-on-one connection with her imaginary (or otherwise) lover. It is thoroughly modern, totally unreserved and ticks all of the boxes of the modern pop sound and look.
Johanna Kuvaja’s music seems to exist where many worlds collide. Where past sounds are turned into modern pop, where the age of the flirtatious selfie is unashamedly embraced, where the lines between mere titillation and unbridled sensuality are blurred, where the battle between image and sound tips ever more in the favour of the former.
And those are no criticisms. Johanna Kuvaja is an artist who knows the power of a provocative pose but not used at the expenses of an infectious and enticing sound. Her music has both and, as such, is a risque assault on the senses. And when has music never benefitted from such a brave approach?
[…] words from Dave Franklin at the UK’s Dancing About Architecture, who calls “Wanna Make Love to You” “thoroughly modern, totally unreserved” […]