Victoria Monét expands her R&B world on ‘Frequency of Love’

Victoria Monét’s new album is here. Frequency of Love arrived October 2 as a 22-track R&B and soul project, marking her first full studio release since Jaguar II turned years of respected songwriting into a broader breakthrough under her own name. Apple Music lists the album as her latest release, while Lovett Music and RCA Records are credited on the project.

The record does not treat love as one uncomplicated feeling. Monét has described the project as drawing from romance and dating, but also from love for her daughter, care for the wider world and the pressure of deciding whose attention deserves her energy. That range gives the album a wider frame than a conventional collection of love songs: desire, disappointment, family and self-possession share the same space.

A wide R&B palette

Its musical palette is similarly open. The house-leaning Reach Out, produced by Kaytranada, turns longing into movement, while Juicy draws from yacht R&B and Let Me takes the form of a slow jam. The album also works through familiar R&B memory. Almost nods to Brandy’s Almost Doesn’t Count, and For You reimagines Kenny Lattimore’s ballad of the same name. Those references function as conversation with the genre’s past rather than an attempt to leave it behind.

The guest list connects Monét’s own rise to a broad contemporary R&B circle. AP reports appearances from Bruno Mars, SZA, Bryson Tiller, Leon Thomas and Chlöe Bailey. Apple Music’s release page also identifies songs including See You in My Dreams with SZA, You Mean the World to Me with Leon Thomas and Hazel Monét, and That’s Why I Love You with Bruno Mars. The credits place collaboration around Monét’s voice instead of turning the album into a compilation.

Following a Grammy breakthrough

That balance matters after Jaguar II. Released in 2023, that album brought Monét three Grammy wins in 2024, including best new artist and best R&B album. Success changed the expectations around whatever came next. In an interview published ahead of the release, she rejected the idea that a three-year interval needed an apology and argued that artists need time to live before they can make meaningful work from experience.

Monét has also been clear that ambition did not mean copying a famous blueprint. She cited Michael Jackson’s growth between Off the Wall and Thriller as an example of artistic risk, while explicitly distancing her album from any claim that it was her version of Thriller. The useful part of that reference is the permission to widen the sound after a defining record—not a promise to repeat someone else’s commercial history.

The album’s arrival also extends a career built long before the Grammy spotlight. Monét wrote for artists including Ariana Grande, Blackpink, Chloe x Halle and Selena Gomez before her own catalog received comparable mainstream attention. That background remains audible in the precision of her hooks, but Frequency of Love arrives from an artist with enough public recognition to make the larger world around those hooks part of the event.

A creative life beyond the studio

Her creative life is widening beyond music as well. Monét recently completed culinary school as the top student in her class and has spoken about eventually writing scripted television and film, including comedy. She said the international music she played while cooking—and the fellowship of bringing food into studio sessions—fed back into the atmosphere of the record. It is a practical example of the album’s central idea: love can be expressed through craft, hospitality and attention, not only romance.

Frequency of Love is also moving from release day into live performance. Monét is preparing for a 27-city North American tour beginning in late October after appearing on the European leg of Bruno Mars’ stadium tour. For listeners, the immediate fact is simpler: the album is available now, and it places Monét’s voice, writing and curatorial instincts at the center of a long-form R&B statement rather than a rushed follow-up to an awards season.