Exploring Cynthia Erivo's "I Forgive You": A Song by Song Breakdown and Review

"I Forgive You" - a yearning and whirlwind love lost, and finding an identity within love itself. These are things that Cynthia Erivo's storyteller album takes us through. Song by song, the ebb and flow of this album is unique. Erivo clearly doesn't write songs to slap into an album. It's a carefully curated masterpiece, displaying her craftsmanship within the art of voice. It's no surprise to anybody that Cynthia Erivo's first album release post-Wicked would gain a lot of traction. After having a few weeks to listen and have it sink in, here is our song by song breakdown, first thoughts, and playlists that we'll be adding her songs to.

"Why - Interlude" - I am stunned by the vocal production, even in the small interludes in between the full length song. It very literally took me about 5 seconds to know that we were in for something great with this album.

"Best For Me" - Something I struggle with in this album is relateability. Which is fine - it is human nature to gravitate towards music that caters towards your personal experiences. However, digging into the lyrics of this song, it does sound like a relationship ending due to infidelity - and Erivo is the guilty one. I can't deny her stunning, 10/10 voice, that is constant. But, I'm not entirely sure I can get behind a song with that message. I'm sure the relatability resonates stronger with others (like my ex boyfriend!), I just don't prefer it.

"More Than Twice" - This song is STUNNING. We have all been there. The suffocating presence of someone you once loved that has somehow turned into everything you hate. This song is a piece of art. No other comments.

"You First" - The classical background of this song displays Erivo's voice like no other. This song feels like a combination of begging on your knees to save a relationship, and standing up and calling out the hypocracy of the situation. The end of this song, completely a capella, puts the icing and sprinkles on the cake.

"Save Me From You" - This is a special situation of a song. One of my personal top picks from this album, I think the beat makes this song a stand out from the ones that we've heard so far. "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda blues" is an accurate representation. Again, relatability to this song is where I struggle slightly, but artistically this song is genius, and I can't deny that.

"Worst of Me" - Okay, lower range! Erivo reminding us how versatile her voice is by getting down into the depths of her range with this song. As it picks up in the second verse, I can feel myself bobbing my head a little bit more. "You took the worst of me" is a genius line. Again, struggling with the relatability.

"I Want You - Interlude" - I find these interludes to be so vocally stunning, it leaves me wanting more.

"She Said" - I'm loving the stacked vocals in general, because that is something that is consistent throughout the whole album. The layering and again - vocal production is masterful. I am SO impressed with the vocal production throughout this entire album, and I think besides Erivo's incredible vocals, the production is what makes this album.

"What You Want" - Just what this album needed - a sexy, sultry song. There's something about this song - is it the beat? The instruments? I'm not sure. But throughout the almost 4 minute song, I did not get bored of listening once.

"Play the Woman" - I simply have so much to say about this song. I would argue this this is also a top pick for me for this album. The song opening up with a siren-sounding whistle note, and then those whistle notes continuing throughout the song is pure magic. The addition of strings to this song is, again, genius. But my favorite part? THE ELECRTIC GUITAR. Thank you to whoever's idea that was. Being another sultry song that is directly after the first sultry song that we hear, the way this song is differentiated IS THE ELECTRIC GUITAR. I am a lover of rock, so it is no surprise that the instrumentals on this song have me screaming.

"Push and Pull" - I really enjoy the R&B twist on the typical sound that we've heard so far on this album. And one thing I never expected - a RAP from Erivo. A chill track that is really easy to listen to.

"Until You Saw Me - Interlude" - No notes. Beautiful.

"Holy Refrain" - TAKE ME TO CHURCH CYNTHIA! This song is simply insanity. The vocals deliver, and I can imagine how heavenly this song is going to sound when she performs it live. Again, NO NOTES 10/10.

"I Choose Love" - Okay, so please don't hate me, but I was not particularly a fan of this song. After hearing the banger that was the previous track, I was a little underwhelmed. For me particularly, this song is screaming "I'm justifying why I cheated on a partner", and the excuse is "I choose love, I guess that makes me the villain". Well, yes, it kind of does make you the villain (sorry?). Not a song that I personally will be adding to my playlist.

"Be Okay" - I love an a capella arrangement, so I will absolutely be listening to the a capella version of this album that Erivo released. What could be better than pure vocals blasting into my eardrums? Probably nothing. This song is Beautiful, with a capital B.

"How I Could Fall" - I've been looking forwards to a pure, unfiltered love song from this album, so I was so excited to give this one a listen. I imagine this song as a first dance song for a wedding, I love it.

"I Forgive You - Interlude" - We know how I feel about these interludes by now.

"Replay" - This is the song for the overthinkers. Word vomit, whatever you want to call it, encapsulates the vibe of this track.

"Brick by Brick" - Within the first 10 seconds of listening, I knew I would fall in love with this song. I was waiting for a song that was really lyrically song - and this is that track. I felt the words, and I felt the power. Erivo has a magically powerful voice - and I'm so thankful that this track allows her her to stand in that power and belt her face. This is also a top track of mine for this album.

"Grace" - And finally, we come to the conclusion of this 20-track album, which I probably should've paid more attention to before comitting to write a small review for every single track. This song is lighthearted - the perfect goodbye song for the end of a tour. The orchestration into the voice recording with Erivo's vocals in the background gave me chills, and was a stunning way to finish this record.

Well - that's all folks. An absolute beast of an album with vocals for days. After not releasing her own original music for a while, I really am stunned at the artisry of this album. Seems like Erivo is here to stay, and this album will hopefully cement her as a multidimensional artist of our time.