INVU (Lacroix Album)

*Rated M - Final Edition*  (2021)

***INVU*** is the fourth studio album released by American singer-songwriter Monica Lacroix. It was released through Republic Records on December 19, 2022. The album features a smaller group of producers and writers Lacroix would work with. Lacroix was listed with credits associated on every track becoming her first album to feature her name on every track.

'**INVU'** would see the artist expanding her artistry into a more mystical light with a focus on the synths and her stellar vocal ability showcasing her improvements of belting and reaching higher notes. The album thematically explores the envy of life with less emphasis on heartbreak and more the journey to loving another following it. The album features new producers Lacroix would work with along with three entire songs the artist wrote by herself and produced with the assistance of Rick Rubin, a famed producer in the industry and Max Martin who Lacroix has claimed to be almost a father to her when in the studio. Lacroix reportedly re-recorded the album in the midst of her highly covered breakup with American rapper Travis Scott in just a span of 15 days with the original writers called in.

The album was released side by side with the lead title track *INVU* on the same day, with the single becoming Lacroix's first top 5 entree on the US Billboard Hot 100 since the *Rated M* era. Weekend was the first single however released from the album as a pre-release single achieving a peak of #19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 since release. It is her first pre-release not to enter the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100. The single has since however been certified platinum in the United States and has sold over 5 million copies. INVU would earn Lacroix her first number one of 2023 on March 6, 2023, selling over nearly 600K copies in the United States during the week, alongside the album would rise to #5 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart following this.

## Background

Originally, Lacroix intended for the album to be more of a resolve and more in depth of recent events in her life, such has recent breakups and the grueling schedule of being one of the most global artists in the world at the moment. She reportedly wanted to usher in a new sound, while experimenting with her vocals and pushing past her limits to new sounds. The artist experimented in previous works such as her critically acclaimed duo albums, ***step forward(2018)*** & ***Rated M(2020)***.

The artist would undergo media thrills such as her heated romance amongst the tabloids with American rapper Travis Scott. The two would become a hot topic amongst various social media networking's as this would be one of Lacroix's third or fourth romances in the spotlight. With Travis Scott's release of Astroworld, many fans would be curious into their life and pregnancy rumors would begin to trail the globe due to the artist not appearing in the media as she normally would. Lacroix would deny these rumors and according to her in an in-depth interview, they recorded a collaborative single she was set to feature on her upcoming album detailing being one of the paparazzi's hottest couples.

In other news, Lacroix wanted her upcoming album to be different and feature more belting, more vocal leaps compared to her previous works. Lacroix wanted her album to have absolutely no features this time around wanting the center stage but also she confirmed Kanye West would not be having any credits on this album due to the involuntary slander of her aunt and their subsequent divorce that was heated throughout the year. The artist would cut off all ties from Ye and subsequently performed their collaborative song using lyrics taken from a demo of the single before he was added as a feature. The artist made it clear she wanted to be involved also in the production, and enlisted previous collaborators Max Martin, and Oscar Holton accompanied with new producers and writers.

Following the heated and highly covered breakup of Travis Scott and Lacroix, the artist re-recorded all of the tracks other than *Weekend* which was released as a pre-release single to showcase the upcoming era. It reportedly took only 15 days, and it featured the original writers according to the credits on the album.

## Production

The album features ten tracks all giving credit to Monica in some way be it the production, and or writing. It is her first album to feature her name across majority of the album. The soundscape featured in the album is of high quality according to many critics with many stating this album was created through decisive precision with most notably the title track itself featuring the artist belting with a dream-like production in its backing. Lacroix wanted to go to a more humane side similar to her previous work before the release of Rated M (2020). The album stands also as her shortest album released to date with only 10 tracks.

## Artwork & version exclusives

The artwork for the cover was exclusive to the standard and digital version. On the VIP First Class edition featuring unreleased snippets and demo tracks from the recording sessions of the album, it featured the artist in a blue themed concept photoshoot. Lacroix stated she wanted this album to feature artwork of the likes she's never done before. An exclusive founder's edition was released through Lacroix's website featuring the artist in a monochromatic cover with similar backdrops to the ones on the standard.

As in previous releases, the albums come with posters, photobooks, booklets, and more complimentary for the fans for purchasing the physical copy. For the VIP First Class edition of the album, fans would earn exclusive codes for an upcoming project by Lacroix revealed to be a make-up brand with the artist confirming the title of the brand to be Lacroix Beauty. She confirmed she would fully be investing a lot into the brand.

## Critical review

The album was critically acclaimed scoring higher than any of her previous works to date, with the artist being dubbed a revolutionary artist of her generation and both possibly the past two decades with constantly one-upping herself and her previous era.

***MWCritic*** gave the album a 99/100 for its captivating production which showcases the artists newest talents and improvements in her range and vocal abilities as a vocalist. ***RollingStone.com*** would give the album a very detailed review with a 5/5 rating citing the vocal ability and the production going hand in hand and cited it as an instant classic on first listen due to the artist getting once again in touch with her emotions and writing on such a high profiled relationship in a way, it allowed the listener to see the struggles the artist went through battling love, and the medias opinions week by week. Billboard.com cited the album as the golden standard describing her previous work, *step forward (2018)*, & *Rated M (2020)* as the little surprises and INVU as the big reward at the end. Many critics also raved at the time of the albums entering on the charts as it kicked off 2023 with a bang and cited an interest in the synth-pop genre by some.

## Commercial performance

The album would debut at #4 on the US Billboard 200, and at #1 outside of the US on various album charts & #2 on the Gaon Asia chart on January 2, 2023 becoming the first album to sell over 2 million copies globally and chart #1 on the Billboard 200 Global Albums chart for the year. The album would become Lacroix's biggest opening week garnering over 2 million copies being sold in the first week of release beating the predicted outcome by both the artist and the critics! The album would remain in the top 2 (rose to 3 in the US) in every chart for the following week before subsequently falling to #2 outside of Canada, and Latin America. The album would subsequently sell over 3 million copies in just a span of a month. The album would later begin to slowly sizzle out in the United States falling into the 30s by its 10th week, however once the title track achieved number one, it would rise quickly back up jumping 25 placements to #5 on the Billboard 200.

Lacroix would appear on January 3rd, 2023, to promote the album performing five (INVU, Weekend, Timeless, Nxde & Eleven Eleven) out of the ten tracks on the album.

## Track-listing

Standard Edition (FIXING LATER)

ORDER - TITLE - PRODUCERS - WRITERS

1. Weekend - Dreamus, Max Martin, Oscar Holton - Lacroix, Martin
2. Eleven Eleven - Dreamus, Monica - Lacroix, Dreamus, Elton John
3. No Love Again - Dreamus, Monica, Max Martin - Lacroix, Victoria Monet
4. GrlsSpeakOut - Monica, Ricky Rubin - Lacroix, Rubin
5. Set Myself On Fire - Benny Blanco, Monica - Lacroix, Blanco
6. INVU - Max Martin, Monica - Lacroix, Martin, Rubin
7. Nxde - Monica, Ricky Rubin - Lacroix, Martin
8. Can't Control Myself - Ricky Rubin, Max Martin - Max Martin
9. Toddler - Lacroix, Ricky Rubin - Lacroix
10. Cold As Hell - Lacroix - Lacroix