“I’m a bit addicted to crushing on people,” she admits, and indeed, the songs on Treat Me Right ooze with the manic highs of infatuation. “You’re my natural high,” she declares to a lover on the title track. There’s a palpable sense of immediacy: bouncy synths, twinkling harps, and irresistible vocal hooks abound, accompanied by images of lipstick, dancing, and champagne. On the vocal interlude “Introduction,” Tatyana even pours herself a glass. She beckons her subject to come closer, read between the lines – not just to kiss her, but to kiss her right now.
It’s not all champagne fizz, of course, and while there’s plenty to enjoy on the surface of these songs, a closer look reveals a deeper meaning. “Maybe it’s the way I was raised, but I really have no time for men who don’t treat me right,” she says of the mantra that became the album’s title. “What else can I say? / I deserve so much more,” she proclaims later on “Lover, You Don’t Know Me.” For all her playfulness, what Tatyana commands above all on these songs is respect – both from herself and the object of her affection.
From the sophisticated arrangements that underpin her catchiest hooks to the clever use of double entendre that turns a classic crush song on its head, Tatyana’s music rests on the interplay between technical mastery and fun-loving charm. It’s an inimitable quality borne of eclectic experience, like a childhood steeped in classical Russian piano and a clandestine ABBA obsession. And while Treat Me Right may be a study in infatuation and relationships, it’s Tatyana herself who emerges most clearly, peering through love as a lens into the universal.