KAINA is an artist from Chicago, a first generation Venezuelan/Guatemalan American who released her debut album, Next to the Sun, on SOOPER Records in 2019. Now she returns to take another big step by releasing her sophomore album, this time on City Slang, It Was a Home.

Sometimes sophomore albums can be tricky. At times, it can feel like you just told your whole life story on the first album and you have nothing left to say. Other times it can feel like you need to switch things up and not repeat yourself, so you try to figure out what your sound is all over again. Whatever it is, it’s always tough to figure out what the next move is after the debut. Fortunately for all of us, KAINA did not try to second guess herself too much when it came to It Was a Home. She’s still working with Sen Morimoto, who co-produced her last album, and the two of them just trusted themselves to largely stick with what worked and just focus on refining that sound and then finding moments here and there to subtly expand upon it. The sound in question is a mix of neo and retro soul, which forms the basis of the album, but they then find room to mix in everything from alternative rock to Spanish classical to bossa nova to psychedelic to hip hop. What ties all of this together is the singing and songwriting from KAINA. She has an incredibly strong voice with great tone to it and excellent melodic intuition. She trusts herself to not do too much with her voice, instead picking just the right moments to go big so that the moment lands effectively. Most of the album, though, is about KAINA’s gorgeous tone fitting within the soundscape that she and Sen Morimoto have crafted. She then drives everything home by spinning these heartfelt tales about her life as she tries to find her place as a first generation American woman in Chicago who is taking a leap to pursue an artistic career. She’s also singing these incredibly mature and thoughtful love songs that really take you through the paces of a romantic relationship that feel lived in. To add some additional layers to the album, we get a few notable guest appearances, namely from Helado Negro and Sleater-Kinney. It’s really a testament to KAINA’s ability and their clear respect for her as an artist that both appearances are clearly there just to help elevate KAINA and put her in the best position to succeed. To round things out, KAINA also gets bonus points for including one cover song, “Come Back as a Flower.” It’s a Stevie Wonder song, but it’s a deep cut, a song from 1979’s Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants”, with vocals from Syreeta Wright. In doing so, KAINA not only gets to put herself in conversation with Wonder’s music, but she’s able to do more with the arrangement to make it her own without people being so overly familiar with the original song that they aren’t able to be open to a new version.

It Was a Home is an absolutely fantastic sophomore album from KAINA. It immediately feels warm and familiar, but the more time you spend with it, you realize how subtly innovative and creative it is. KAINA takes neo and retro soul and then does all of this work to make it uniquely hers, to tell her own story to carve out a little space in 2022 that is only for KAINA.