Ms*Gloom’s J is for Joon weaves through glossy glamour

The intro track establishes what seems to be going on between these two. Mr Gloom’s droll French accent commands Ms Gloom to do another round of singing, moulding her into a popstar. The pop starlet that everyone will fall in love with the first time they hear and see her, with no flaws or flubs that will peer into every move that she makes.

Fortunately for Ms*Gloom, she is not exactly the perfectionist that Mr Gloom tries to push her towards. Throughout the mixtape, she is just as enamoured with the glamour of the spotlight, with all of its fleeting hedonism and celebrity worship. She says it outright upon the glittery mix of “Jinx!”. A mix of enthrallment towards fame (“I worship at Hollywood and Vine / I see God in the signs for Love is Blind, praying) as well as the enamoured yearning for a love despite its melodramatic extremes (What I'd do for this new age love, struck dumb, got me / Got me good). The fiery passion that might go wrong, but still feels so right for her.

It is within the sound that fittingly reflects Ms*Gloom’s intrigued, starry-eyed purview. She, alongside Silent$ky, creates various backdrops of alt-pop that spin across glossy atmospherics, warped beats, and buzzy synths that she sings upon with sparkle. Defiant melodies and haughty vocals are all over “Dumb 4 All”, mixing burly tones with shimmering decadence. Pulsating beats stomp across “Got It In Tha Mix”, “Coco Manifesto”, and “Joker”, nestling close to early 2010s electropop tunes sprinkled with glittery tonics. Then “Ice Palace Adolescence” adds clear contrast to the overall mixtape, washing everything with saturated synths that get heavier as it goes on.

This may expand upon Ms*Gloom's overall vision of pop that somersaults across entrancing soundscapes, but across the 48-minute runtime, it can start to run together. Overdetailed beats don’t always carry when her melodies stumble at spots. Songs like “Cadet Kelly” and “Zines & Gibberish” might sound immense, but they all roll around tunes that come off jumbled. As a result, despite all that production flash, they can sometimes become static.

This is also true towards her lyrical flair. Her interest in opulence and romantic desire can be one thing, but without hints of personal edge or zeal, her otherwise splashy turns of phrase become more infatuated with the scenery rather than going for broke. It only provides a sense of restraint that doesn’t always benefit the concepts she is painting, lacking fervent emotions and deeper insights as a whole.

At the end, J Is For Joon expounds upon Ms*Gloom’s interest in that popstar decadence, filling everything with lustrous alt-pop tones that properly introduce her compelling strengths in that spotlight. But it does carry stumbling limitations, lacking a heavier punch and sharpness to elevate her fascinated eye towards that glossy pop sheen and stirring romance. With this mixtape, her dreams will become real; she just needs to do more to evoke feelings that feel even more vibrant.