Summer Walker is an oddly striking figure in the R&B scene, especially given how reserved she comes across. She lets her music do the talking, remaining a mostly anonymous figure to the public. Walker rarely performs at major ceremonies or events, despite breaking into the mainstream with her sex-positive hit “Girls Need Love” in 2018, and her later majorly successful debut album Over It the following year. A few social media posts aside, Walker uses her profession as a musician as a means of dictating stories about her life.

Rapper Cardi B confirms this at the end of opening track “Bitter”, in which a voice note from her tells Walker to “put that drama in your music”, the “drama” in question being the fallout from Walker’s very public breakup with now ex-boyfriend and executive producer on Over It, London on Da Track. Walker does exactly what the voicenote says throughout the album, with tracks such as “4th Baby Mama” reflecting the toxic nature of the relationship: “If you ask me, you was actin’, whole time just actin’/You ain’t give a f*ck about me, you was just tryna cash in”.

Despite Walker spending much of the album responding to her mistreatment, she does also spare some time to reaffirm her sense of self-worth. Tracks such as the Ari Lennox-assisted “Unloyal” (“You think I’m just gon’ stand on by/And watch you waste my time?”) serve as a reminder to both Walker and the listener of her worth, irrespective of relationship status.

“the number of collaborators... feels symbolic of Walker needing a strong support system to get through such a tumultuous time”

On the topic of collaborators, the number of collaborators (ranging from fellow R&B megastar SZA to legends such as Ciara and Pharrell Williams) feels symbolic of Walker needing a strong support system to get through such a tumultuous time in her life. The ‘strength in numbers’ approach gives a warmer and more creative spin to the album, despite the bitterness and trauma that is understandably elicited by the majority of its lyrical content.

That said, the features never take away from Walker’s struggle, rather they provide avenues through which the Atlanta native is allowed to explore her trauma and the journey she has gone through in the past few years – take the excellent number “No Love” with SZA. Walker’s R&B contemporary conveys the same feelings of betrayal that lie among the album (“You don’t ever pull up on me”, “You the one that ruined us”). Walker’s ability to connect so well with all the artists that feature on the record, whilst remaining centre stage throughout, is one of the many things that send this record to new heights.

Still Over It is also a fantastic move sonically – the tracks “Dat Right There” and “Insane” (one of many standouts on the album) both show Summer entering new territory vocally, especially the latter of the two songs, on which she lets her smoky vocals bounce off the electric guitar that was rarely (if ever) present on her debut album.

The album has something for everyone – it very much parks itself in the R&B genre, but its varied collection of club tunes, such as the lead single “Ex For A Reason”, and more thoughtful tearjerkers, like the wonderfully stripped-back “Session 33”, provide exactly the right balance.

After such a hotly received debut, Walker can hold her head high knowing she has managed to provide a near-perfect follow up that sets the record straight on such a trying period of her life.