Isabella Lovestory’s Labyrinth of Neoperreo Synth—Vanity
by Leah Lascano
Photo courtesy of Elif Gunduz
“It has a metallic, analogue vibe. It's Ghost in the Shell meets punk-pop, reggaeton with an ultra-feminine edge." - Isabella Lovestory, on Vanity
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s fragile, it’s vain, and it can shatter at any given moment. In Isabella Lovestory’s latest album, she defies genre, embraces chaos, and takes listeners on a nightmarish and campy journey through obsession with Vanity.
For those unfamiliar, Isabella Rodriguez Rivera AKA Isabella Lovestory, is a Honduran pop artist who’s become notable in the neoperreo scene, a queer and female-dominated subgenre of reggaeton that marries different sounds like EDM and hyperpop. Lovestory first gained mainstream recognition through the release of her 2020 single “Mariposa,” meaning “Butterfly” in Spanish. She has also recently collaborated with artists Shygirl and Pinkpantheress on the single “True Religion,” and is the songwriter for K-pop group LESSERAFIM’s hit “ANTIFRAGILE.” Lovestory’s striking lyrics, funky yet distinct style, and unique sound contribute to why she has become such a beloved icon in the community. With a strong influence from avant-garde cinema, anime, and a diverse variety of musical inspirations, the Lovestory experience is an unforgettable one.
Fans have been long awaiting the release of Lovestory’s sophomore album Vanity ever since the first single, “VIP,” came out in June of 2024. The album finally dropped on June 27, 2025. Vanity is haunting; it tells the story of a psychotic obsession with beauty and perfection, blending synth sounds over dembow beats. Defying genre in such bold ways is something far from unfamiliar to Lovestory. She says, “I don’t mind when things break. I like collecting the pieces and making something new,” which happens to be an integral theme to Vanity.
The album opens with “Vanity Intro,” a Monster High-esque prologue blending elements of trap, reggaeton, and 2000s pop. An Isabella Lovestory intro is a staple of all of her releases, offering glimpses into the glamorous worlds she’s about to unfold.
“I like to think of my albums like hotels or rooms in a mansion. Each song is on a different floor. The intro is the lobby. Maybe every floor or every track is its own movie? The last song is the rooftop, where you end up partying. An elevator opens, and you look at the stars. Then, it loops from sunrise to sunset.”
Following the intro is “Fresa Metal,” a standout track that many fans have claimed as an album favorite. A unique blend of goth electronica and trap, this song kicks off the album with a bang. With strange and raunchy lyrics, it’s a song that’s unmistakably Isabella. She claims she got the inspiration for the song from a dream she had where a pop star worked in a record label that was built on top of a basement infested with vampires.
Vampires are a significant inspiration for the album as a whole, representing the constant, blood-sucking chase for beauty and youth. The idea for Vanity was born from Lovestory’s 30th birthday, where the celebration of this milestone was overshadowed by her obsession with her appearance, desiring to be perfect and beautiful in every aspect. The album is meant to show the dark side of vanity, how obsession can kill beauty. The mirror imagery represents how the obsession is never-ending; when you look in the mirror, it’s always looking back at you. Coming back to the vampire inspiration, Lovestory speaks about how the importance of vampires being unable to see their reflections influences her work. Since vampires can’t see their own reflections, they constantly chase beauty, sucking it out of everywhere they can find it, until there’s none left.
Following “Fresa Metal” is the iconic single “Telenovela.” Really playing into the absurdity of the Lovestory alter-ego, “Telenovela” gushes over a love for drama, saying “A mí me gusta el drama, es mi diversión.” With a theme inspired by Latino soap operas, Lovestory considers cinema to be one of her greatest inspirations, admiring directors like John Waters, Jacques Demy, Catherine Breillat, and Takashi Miike. She says her ultimate goal in life is to be a director, with a love for how her career in music allows her to have such creative control in her artistry. She wants her songs to open a gateway for audiences to create a movie in their minds, with the iconic Lovestory beats as a perfect backdrop.
Perhaps my personal favorite on the album, “Puchica,” is raunchy, mysterious, and oh so catchy. Dripping with explicit slang and a beat reminiscent of 2000s reggaeton, the track is guaranteed to be stuck in your head for the next week.
“Eurotrash,” spoken in English, Spanish, and French, focuses on a love of cheugy, knockoff, designer garb. Lovestory has a bold fashion sense, think 2000s McBling mixed with Japanese Harajuku; fashioned with ridiculously long lashes made of anything from feathers to magazine clippings. When asked by Interview magazine what she wants to leave behind when she’s gone, Lovestory responds: “My heels, deeply indented on the face of the Earth”.
Title track “Vanity” is dark, mysterious, and ominous, with a sound straight out of an 80’s sci-fi fantasy film. Tying together the theme of the album, “Vanity” speaks of chasing a fantasy of beauty and perfection that’s always just out of reach.
“Soy una botella de perfume
Un objeto hecho de espuma
Fantasía que no puedo atrapar”
This song says “beauty is an illusion”, you are whatever you perceive yourself to be. Reality-altering, psychedelic, and fantastical, this song encapsulates the feeling of spending far too long obsessing over your features in the mirror. With lyrics of “Me muero si quiebro mi reflexión,” it emphasizes how the mirror fuels this obsession with appearance, showing how vanity is defeated when the mirror is shattered.
A humorous switch up, “Putita Boutique” featuring TAICHU, tells the story of the “Whore Boutique” where makeovers include mermaid skin, eclectic fashion, and coming out looking like “una zorra de cine”. This song embodies the feeling of going to the mall with your obnoxious primas as a kid and being sworn to secrecy about the clubbing outfits they bought at Forever 21.
Glimmering in self-confidence and a touch of conceit, “Gorgeous” is the perfect song to lift your spirits on a luteal day. With a Christina Aguilera flair, the song is sexy, self-assured, and sounds straight out of a 2005 VMAs performance. Tying into the theme of Vanity, this track can be viewed as the ultimate goal, reaching the level of beauty and perfection that Lovestory aspires to be. Or, it can be seen from some sort of Evil Queen-esque perspective, of being so enamored in oneself that personal flaws seem to fade away.
In the preceding song “Pill,” Lovestory plays Nurse Cupid, singing about a magical love pill that essentially creates the ideal relationship; free from heartbreak, pain, and just leaves a feeling of “technicolor love”. With a more mellow vibe, this track sets a picturesque backdrop for a meet-cute rom-com made for a Yandere at heart. It shows how, in the eyes of one who is vain, everything deals in absolutes; it’s either 100% perfect, or it’s total garbage.
With a striking change of tone, Lovestory returns to the bold style of 2000s reggaeton in “Bling.” Another fan favorite featuring risqué lyrics and a haunting melody, “Bling” is a perfect neoperreo club track that’s an incoming classic without a doubt.
“VIP,” the first single released for Vanity, plays heavy into the vain, diva alter ego of Isabella Lovestory. This song showcases arrogance and entitlement in a humorous and fresh way. With the line “Mientras tú ves mi feed, estoy feeding a tu b—,” it shows the artificiality and obsession of how vanity can take over social media presence and how one is perceived.
A close favorite for me, “Tu Te Vas” oozes with melancholy and yearning over a whimsical trap beat. Once again referencing her inspiration from cinema, this track details the feeling of unrequited love, how you see this person every time you watch a romance film or turn on the television. Creating an isolating and lonely environment, this song is a cyberpunk Wong Kar Wai fever dream personified.
Finally, as we ascend to the rooftop, Vanity concludes with the hard-hitting “Perfecta.” Similar to “Gorgeous,” yet somehow dripping with more conceit, this song details the perfect appearance, fashion, and life over a trap-reggaeton beat. When paired with Lovestory’s description of the closing track on the album being a rooftop party, this song proves as the perfect backdrop. This final song ties the theme of Vanity up with a bow, visualizing the distorted reflection in shards of the shattered mirror. There’s something aggressive and unsettling about the song, almost villainous in tone and sound. In my opinion, it’s up to the audience whether this is a “happy ending” or not. Sure, she’s “perfect”, but at what cost? The album is riddled with themes of loneliness, conceit, and constantly chasing an unattainable goal. So while this song gushes about perfection, is anything really perfect?
With these questions raised, I conclude my album review of Isabella Lovestory’s latest release, Vanity. A hard-hitting, genre-defying collection of tracks that’s unique in every aspect of the word, this album makes a Mrs. Potato Head-esque commentary on beauty standards and the pursuit of perfection. If this is your first introduction to Lovestory and her work, I highly recommend checking out her 2022 album Amor Hardcore, and her 2020 EP Mariposa. Hopefully, the message of this album sticks with you next time you catch yourself overanalyzing your cystic acne that’s invisible to everyone but you. Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that Vanity is only defeated when the mirror is shattered.
