On September 18th, Kim Petras dropped the deluxe release of her third studio album titled, “Detour(Rare N’ Deluxe).” Previously, the standard album, “Detour,” dropped on May 29, 2026.
While Petras is more of an indie artist, she is most recognized for her feature with Sam Smith in the song “Unholy”. Petras’ previous studio albums, “Feed the Beast” and “Problematique,” held different styles and sounds within Petras’ music.
This new album truly takes us on a turn from her past catalogue. While some qualities stuck through “Detour,” like Petras’ hyper-pop beats and her cheeky lyrics, she experimented far more with her music — especially considering it is her first studio album as an independent artist.
With every project Petras’ produces she always seems to build a specific aesthetic for its era while still incorporating what she is known for. While none of her work has necessarily been visual albums, she still executes a vision. “Detour” takes a lot of different aesthetics but meshes them all into one main idea: imagery like the quality of a 2010’s digital camera, dirt roads with vandalized signs, bright colors, and luxury — the rawness of it all twisted into one era.
One highlight of her past work includes her dual Halloween themed mixtapes “Turn Off the Light Vol. 1″ and “Turn Off the Light“, which were both released in 2018-2019. With song titles like “Bloody Valentine“, “Massacre” and “There Will be Blood,” Petras gave Halloween a whole new meaning mixing hyper pop and horror together to create a unique era.
Similar to Petras’ diverse catalogue, the five new songs featured in the deluxe album all bring something new and fresh in their own ways, yet somehow fit into the album’s track list perfectly. The only downside is that the order of the songs seems slightly out of place. Instead of putting four out of the five new songs directly at the end of the album, they could’ve been integrated better within the pre-existing songs.
The main highlights of the album are the songs, “Polo,” “Jeep, 101″ and “Autobahn”. “Korea” is the one song that sort of weakens the album; it’s a good song, but doesn’t quite reach as high as other material on the album.
Overall, “Detour” is a new embarkment for Petras and her career. The standard and deluxe of this album are both great bodies of work and they compliment each other perfectly, even though deluxe albums can sometimes overshadow the standard edition. The deluxe brings something new and fresh while still fitting in with the other tracks. As a fan of Petras and her music for a few years now, this album stands out and is truly amazing. It is such a massive fulfillment to see the detour she’s taken with her music career and growth.
