She’s less abrasive than she was on her last album, but Doja Cat is still as talented and creative as ever, and her newly formed creative partnership with Jack Antonoff generates sonic marvels for ‘Vie.’

Stream: ‘Vie’ – Doja Cat

Doja Cat is back! And so is her hair, it seems.

Two years ago, Doja Cat launched a new career cycle with Scarlet, clearly aiming to unsettle her audience. Her long pelo had been chopped off, her song’s lyrics and titles were purposefully provocative, and the creative persona she had inaugurated was keen on turning a lot of heads.

Now that the one-album-every-two-years cycle she’s carried out since 2019 has come full circle again, it’s safe to say that her fifth LP, Vie, isn’t quite dialing up the shock value to the max the way its predecessor did – her hair being back at full length, as seen in the music video for advance single “Jealous Type,” may be the most tell-tale sign of that. It’s something different from what we saw of her most recently – but as she sings in the album’s early moments, “maybe [you’ll] fall in love, baby,” with it all the same.

The odds of that are pretty excellent, in fact. Vie makes for a highly entertaining 50-minute helping of new music from the ever-dependable Doja Cat, full with the infectious beats and thoughtful balance of singing and rapping that have characterized her past releases and remain in full force this time around. Jack Antonoff just took a break from producing for Taylor Swift this year, but that seemingly allowed him the time to devote his beat-making talents to Doja Cat instead – and Vie benefits immensely as a result.

“Cards,” the aforementioned opening track, sets the template for the ‘80s synth-pop influenced production to which much of the rest of Vie winds up being faithful. Antonoff, along with co-producers Y2K and Gavin Bennett, let their creativity shine, all while Doja Cat alerts her male suitors about the tough nature of engaging romantically with an elegant pop star of her stature. “I ain’t just some girl on your notch and not many men make me nervous a lot,” she warns, while ultimately inviting them to give it a shot all the same: “Maybe we’ll win some hearts. Baby, just play your cards.”

Songs like “Couples Therapy” elaborate on this theme of the complicated celebrity love quest. “I feel so abandoned,” Doja confides. “Gotta undo my selfish habits.” On “Gorgeous,” the singer/rapper sings/raps about “how you relate to yourself and how you feel about yourself,” explaining that “it’s alright to be honest – even when we sit in the dark, I feel the prettiest that you ever saw.”

As indicated by their playful titles, such as “AAAHH MEN!” and “Silly! Fun!” there are also some other songs here where Doja lets her more serious lyricism take a breather and heads out to have a good time, with us fans invited along for the ride (an invitation many of us recently accepted via Saturday Night Live). Tracks like these are less about forming serious relationships and more about what she describes as “love bombing,” with lyrics like “Wouldn’t it be fun if we went to a party? Wouldn’t it be fun to fall deep for somebody?” running wild.

One of the limited similarities between Vie and the much darker Scarlet is that guest artists are kept to a minimum on both releases. If you’re going to make an exception, though, it makes sense for it to be in the form of the almighty SZA, especially since their previous collaboration, 2021’s “Kiss Me More,” remains a mutual commercial high-water-mark in both of their careers. SZA’s and Doja’s studio chemistry is extended well into “Take Me Dancing,” with both artists delivering big in the vocal department and cooking up Ariana Grande-evoking dancefloor instructions in the chorus: “More body, less mind. Left, right, bend, slide.” The song also benefits from several infectious saxophone loops of the sort that appeared on some of Doja’s past hits, such as the “In Your Eyes” remix with the Weeknd.

Vie wraps the show up well in its home stretch, as the music remains pleasant-sounding (as you might expect from a song named “Happy,” hehe) and even features an amusing range of French lyrics sprinkled throughout (as is consistent with the album’s title, meaning “life” en français). “Come Back” winds up being a fine way to bring the curtain down, as it’s true to the album’s central theme of claiming the upper hand in the game of love. “You missed the mark and her majesty,” Doja Cat tells her former beau, who’s now left “beggin’ me, ‘baby, come back to me.’” It doesn’t seem like that’s likely to happen, but at least they both gained something from the shared experience. “We learned a lesson from lovin’ on one another,” she reassures him. “Nothin’ shows more strength than gunnin’ for ex-lovers.”

Vie is an album full of vie. Lively vocal work from the leading lady, as well as upbeat production by Jack Antonoff & crew, make this a fine addition in the already-impressive album catalog that Doja Cat has amassed thus far.

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