Dancing With the Devil...The Art of Starting Over

Dancing with the Devil...The Art of Starting Over is the accompanying album to Dancing with the Devil, a documentary series chronicling Demi Lovato's voyage in recovery. Where the series focused on the past, the album, as its title suggests, is a bit of a rebirth, where Lovato is looking forward to a new phase in their career -- not that Lovato has taken their trauma off the table entirely. The first stretch of The Art of Starting Over tackles their 2018 relapse and subsequent hospitalization, while much of the rest of the record is so bluntly confessional it can play like a journal. Often, this blend of candid soul-baring and hyper-stylized pop can cause a bit of cognitive dissonance; the songs seem built to support emotions a bit frothier than what the lyrics detail. Lovato's frankness is disarming, forcing the listener to reckon with the depths of the singer's distinction, yet the album works best when it veers toward lighter territory, letting the slick R&B rhythms and sugared hooks carry Lovato's emoting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine