On her fifth studio album, Sabrina Claudio is her freest yet. After leaving her previous label in 2023, the R&B singer-songwriter asked herself if she wanted to continue as a recording artist; she still loved making music, but not the promotional weight that came with it. Stepping back and writing for other artists (including Beyoncé’s “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA”) gave her that space to create without pressure. Meanwhile, collaborating across genres and workflows reshaped her sense of what was possible in her own sound. That widened scope is core to Fall in Love with Her. Claudio’s signature introspective ballads remain, but the production is cinematic and soaked in reverb, her breathy voice suspended over a stripped-back mix of soft acoustic drums, dreamy piano, fuzzed-out guitar and sweeping harp. (In a behind-the-scenes video, her producers named acts like alt-rockers Radiohead and dream-pop bands Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star as sonic touchpoints.) Claudio peels back lyrically, too: After years of telling other people’s stories in her songs, she’s finally ready to share her own. Fall in Love with Her traces her journey in love, from yearning to be desired (“Need U to Need Me”) to grieving deception (“Tall Tales”) to navigating healing (“Detoxing”). On final track “Memory Foam”, Claudio leaves things open-ended but hopeful: “Don’t know if I’ll meet the one/But I’ll try till then.”