Album review: Demi Lovato's It's Not That Deep

Demi Lovato has long been known as a singer who wears her emotions openly. Her music has often carried the weight of hardship, healing and personal battles. Yet on her ninth studio album, It’s Not That Deep (Island Records, October 24, 2025), Lovato turns towards something brighter. She embraces colour, flirtation and lightness with an ease that feels earned. Across twelve lean, glossy tracks, she returns to a pop landscape that recalls the high-energy sheen of her mid 2010s era, only this time with the grounding of someone who has lived, learned and come out softer rather than hardened.

From the opening pulse of lead single Fast, the album declares itself boldly. The beat is urgent, the hooks are flirtatious and Lovato’s voice rises with a confident shimmer. It is the sound of someone ready to have fun again. Here All Night continues the mood, full of late evening warmth and slow-burning desire. Kiss, one of the album’s standouts, sits in the sweet spot between playful and emotional. The chorus swells without ever overreaching, capturing the dizzy promise of new affection. The album is not here to reinvent pop, but it certainly knows how to polish it to a shine. It pulls from familiar influences in contemporary pop, while keeping Lovato’s vocal presence unmistakably front and centre.

What gives the record its staying power is the gentle thread of reflection that runs through it. Ghost offers a quieter moment, lingering on memories of past love with a soft ache that feels sincere rather than sorrowful. Let You Go turns the idea of goodbye into a celebration of personal peace. The title track, It’s Not That Deep, summarises the album’s message perfectly. It encourages ease, openness and the decision to choose joy instead of spiralling in thought. Executive producer Zhone ensures the project flows easily, shifting between dance-floor sparkle and calmer emotional spaces without feeling disjointed.

This shift in tone feels linked to where Lovato is in her life now. Her recent marriage is no small context. Where HOLY FVCK (2022) was jagged and cathartic, this album feels rooted in happiness and stability. There is a playfulness here that comes from being comfortable. Even the visuals accompanying the release show Lovato reclaiming her own cultural and internet legacy, turning past viral moments into symbols of humour and self-awareness.

There are plenty of highlights. Frequency, which began from a spontaneous studio moment, crackles with chemistry. Album closer Echo leaves the listener with an uplifting afterglow. If there is a small critique, it is that the latter half of the album occasionally slips into familiar territory. Yet Lovato’s voice, with its power and emotional clarity, keeps it compelling regardless.

In a year full of major pop releases, It’s Not That Deep stands out for its plain joy. It portrays Demi Lovato at her most relaxed and radiant. A reminder that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is let yourself feel good.

Whether you are a longtime fan or someone who dips in occasionally, this is an album worth repeating.