Sampha – Process

Being heavily affected by Solange’s Don’t Touch My Hair, I sat down and listened to Sampha’s solo debut album really carefully, without having listened to his past efforts with SBTRKT or having known his songwriting credits for other artists (I did know them, actually, I just didn’t know I actually knew them). I tried to focus on every sound, every word, every reverb and every agony in his vocals, as they desperately try to save themselves from drowning every time a chorus opens. For a second there, I almost had the sense he wants to sound like an American soul crooner, like John Legend, Frank Ocean or even a male version of Macy Gray. But Sampha is everything but that.

He breaks the rules of singing, writing words, building melodies or even composing rhythm sections. He creates from a well-hidden place in his heart, a personal sanctuary, something mystical and mystic at the same time. His songs, though, are not weak, dark or dramatized. On the contrary, they are solid and emotionally bigger than everything he has experienced in the recent past. Process feels more like a personal spiritual catharsis being narrated over pianos and drums and less like a studio album. In terms of music reviewing, that sounds inconsistent, because, as a product, it’s a studio album. But it’s solitary as well. It sounds like he is on a mission, other than selling records.

Process consists of 10 tracks co-produced by Rodaidh McDonald. They all have the same purpose: to communicate the singer’s truth and traumas. Death, health issues and lonesomeness are the main themes, while he uses them as a vehicle to reach his mental well-being and to fully understand his own existence… An angel by her side, all the times I knew we couldn't cope / They said that it's her time, no tears in sight, I kept the feelings close / And you took hold of me and never, never, never let me go / Cause no one knows me like the piano in my mother's home.

This is one of the most sonically adventurous projects during the last few years (I guess). Electronic pads and synths are gradually blending with old school breakbeat drums and piano chords in Blood On Me. Percussions are imperious, delivering an experimental funk performance in Kora Sings. Reversed audio files sound imperfectly perfect in Reverse Faults, which serves as a bridge for the intoxicating Under… I see you manipulate your lover / Take cover, waves come crashing over us. And then, somewhere between the piano ballads and the voice trembling, Timmy’s Prayer comes along, channeling Enya and various ensembles from the Highlands in Scotland. At first, it’s weird. And then, you simply accept the fact that it works.

Process is a soulful album, without ending up being a part of the RnB genre. It’s electronic, reminding us a lot of Jessie Ware’s songs, while it stands on its own as a painful trip to self-discovery. Sampha lost his mother during the recording sessions. He had a lump in his throat, too. The thing is, you don’t have to know these pieces of information to feel his pain. You only have to let the music do the magic. After a couple of hearings, it finally gets you. And you find yourself sketching an image of him in your mind playing the piano in his mother’s home in London. That’s the process.

9/10

Solange - A Seat At The Table

It takes years of hard work in order to become an artist. But it only takes a bunch of days to create a milestone. And if you think about it, it always happens when least expected. Think about Adele's 21, Lauryn's The Miseducation of and Alanis' Jagged Little Pill. Zero anticipation. Nobody really cared, until the day of their release.

A Seat At The Table is Solange's third album. Few people listened to the debut. Some more people noticed the second one. And then, there were none. Four years later, she recorded the addictive True EP and she instantly became a hipster. And now, another four years later, she releases one of the most consistent and remarkable albums of 2016. Is this a Lemonade coincidence or a personal statement?

Solange is a smart girl. While her sister runs the world, she has decided to be something completely different: an anti-star. Solange is a real person. You can find her in New Orleans with her husband, creating music, drinking old-fashioned cocktails, biking and collecting vintage dresses. She doesn't care about attention, world tours, Instagram records or winning a Grammy. Well, we can check this off the list, even if it's too early for next year's nominations.

ASATT is a smooth and mature celebration of being a black woman. Though I can't stop thinking about the obvious similarities with Erykah's Baduizm or even Jill's Words and Sounds, Solange takes her version of feminism a step further. She derives her inspiration from her family, her hometown, her own marriage, her sister, her personal experience. But don't ever think this collection of songs is about girl power. It's about black women being devalued, black women being great artists, black women being future American Presidents. Her vision is moving and emotional, but never arrogant or cocky.

Her first two videos, Don't Touch My Hair and Cranes In The Sky, made an instant impact the day they were released. With flawless, minimal production (God bless Raphael Saadiq), solid songwriting, vital brass sections, velvet vocals and impressive whistle notes, Solange certainly redefines the soul/r'n'b genre with a unique sound. She also did it with True, but this time is stronger, more efficient and sophisticated.

Her Lil Wayne collaboration, Mad, is one of the album's highlights. Don't Wish Me Well creates an aggressive, but also sexy momentum. Weary delivers urban wisdom: "Be leery 'bout your place in the world/You're feeling like you're chasing the world/You're leaving not a trace in the world/But you're facing the world". And so on.

You cannot skip tracks or interludes, while listening to ASATT. This album demonstrates such an ethereal beauty that makes it so difficult not to be part of its magic. Even though Solange controls every minute of the hearing, A Seat At The Table is somehow self-existent. It feels like it had already been recorded somewhere in the universe and it patiently waited for the right woman to sing it away.

AnArtCalled... 9.5/10

FKA twigs - LP1

When I first saw the cover of this album, I thought the girl in it has some kind of issues with the "Avatar" film. Anyhow, it's not important. It's just the fact, though, that, while I was listening to her music for the first time, I thought FKA twigs is a weird girl. An almost mythical creature, a person that impersonates many roles through her videos and tries to be anything but normal. It was this exact point of view that I thought it could fade away, as I was trying to understand her musical goals. Maybe I have never been more wrong in my life as far as an artist is concerned. Because, in fact, in every word she sings, her uniqueness gets more and more confident and stronger. That much, that it's getting actually weirdly weird.

The first full-length album for FKA twigs is actually an electronic r'n'b masterpiece. It's like placing Beyonce in the studio with Weeknd, James Blake and Jessie Ware and yet, it's not enough to fully create a picture of her sound. She is fragile and strong at the same time and she is singing from a place that is certainly not her throat or her diaphragm. She sings from her heart and it's not a human heart; it's a divine heart, a heart full of power, sensuality, deep breaths and reverb. You can listen to it so clearly; her voice is recorded from another time and another place, not a studio in the UK.

Even though it was pretty smart to promote the album with the best track in it, "Two weeks", you cannot underestimate the other songs. "Video girl" and "Lights on" are tracks that Kelis, Solange or any other sophisticated r'n'b diva that respects herself could kill for. The production here is flawless. It is "britishly flawless", as I often write about a James Blake record. It's fresh, it stands on its own and most of the times it's dark. Just like a personal secret you really cannot tell to anyone, because someone will die!

FKA twigs, a former dancer in Jessie J videos (what the odds), has released an album that has so much potential in it, it is on the verge of already becoming an instant classic; great songs, great voice, great production, great artwork, great timing and critical reception. Not to mention, a beautiful and stylish woman.

AnArtCalled... 9,5/10

Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady

Η Janelle Monae είναι παράξενη ιστορία, αλλά θα μας απασχολήσει σε λιγάκι.

Όταν το 1998 έκανε την εμφάνισή της η Lauryn Hill, ούτε η πρώτη ήταν που έκανε παλαιομοδίτικες hip hop-soul ηχογραφήσεις (άκου "Baduism" από Erykah Badu), ούτε το "The miseducation of..." ήταν η πρώτη της δισκογραφική κυκλοφορία (η αποθέωση με τους The Fugees είχε έρθει από το 1996), ούτε έκανε κάτι που κανείς άλλος δεν είχε σκεφτεί (αν μη τι άλλο, μέσα στα 90's η Mary J Blige ήταν η βασίλισσα των μαύρων charts). Η Lauryn Hill ήταν σαφώς όμως η πρώτη γυναίκα στην ευρύτερη contemporary & traditional r'n'b μουσική που είχε τον πλήρη έλεγχο ενός ολόκληρου δίσκου, έγραψε μουσική, έκανε παραγωγή, έκανε concept album σε μια εποχή που κανείς δεν τολμούσε, έκανε 548 διαφορετικά layers φωνητικών σε κάθε track, έκανε ραπ όπως καμία άλλη και έβαλε τον πήχη τόση ψηλά για τις τραγουδιάρες της μαύρης μουσικής, που δικαίως θεωρήθηκε πρωτοπόρος, διαχώρισε τον εαυτό της από τα άλλα δύο μέλη των The Fugees και σάρωσε ό,τι βραβείο βρέθηκε μπροστά της.

Κανείς δεν μπορεί να γίνει Χαλίφης στη θέση του Χαλίφη. Μόνο που μπορεί. Γιατί η Janelle Monae έχει φτάσει αυτόν τον πήχη της Lauryn Hill και μάλιστα δύο φορές. Με το "The Archandroid" πριν δύο χρόνια και φέτος με το "The Electric Lady". Κι ενώ σε καμία περίπτωση δεν έχει φτάσει το hype της Lauryn, είναι τόσο ταλαντούχα κι εργατική, που κάθε φορά απορείς πως μπορεί και συνθέτει κάτω από ένα ενιαίο concept τόσα πράγματα, τόσες συνεργασίες, τόσα διαφορετικα μουσικά προφίλ και τόσα outfits (duh).

Η ηλεκτρική κυρία, το τέταρτο και πέμπτο μέρος από τα 7 του "Metropolis" concept (υπάρχουν και EP για τα πρώτα μέρη) κινείται στα ίδια πλαίσια με το "The Archandroid", οπότε μην περιμένεις να ακούσεις λάτιν σούστες με αρπίχορδο. Η soulful, mid-tempo βάση των περισσότερων κομματιών δίνει τη θέση της σε funk κιθάρες και up-tempo καταστάσεις, όπως το "Dance apocalyptic", ενώ αρκετά ιντερλούδια φλερτάρουν με τις ορχήστρες, κάτι που η Monae δείχνει να απολαμβάνει και να ενσωματώνει με ό,τι κυκλοφορεί.

Τα μηνύματα στέκονται με σθένος απέναντι στον ρατσισμό και τις διακρίσεις σε όποιο επίπεδο και θα το καταλάβεις αν δεν κάνεις skip τα ιντερλούδια, αλλά τα ακούσεις προσεκτικά, για να κατανοήσεις τι θέλει να πει η δημιουργός και πώς έχει στήσει όλη την επταλογία...
- Robot love is queer
- What, what, what?
- Robot love is queer
- How would you know it's queer if you never tried it?

Οι συνεργασίες παριλαμβάνουν τον Prince, την Erykah Badu, τον Miguel, τη Solange και την Esperanza Spalding, πράγμα που σημαίνει ότι δεν στηρίχτηκε αμιγώς στις δυνάμεις της, αλλά πήρε όλη την black alternativa των charts (είναι ευνόητο πως δεν μιλώ για τον Prince) παραμάσχαλα. Αυτό δεν σε χαλάει καθόλου, αντιθέτως δένουν όλα γλυκά.

Δεν έχω να πω κάτι αρνητικό για το "The Electric Lady" από όποια σκοπιά κι αν το πιάσω. Βασικά, γίνεται σχεδόν βαρετό να περιμένω πάντα κάτι καλό και πάντα να ακούω κάτι καλύτερο των προσδοκιών μου. Ίσως κάνω μια σελίδα στο facebook με τίτλο "Like this page if you are sick and tired of Janelle Monae always recording masterpieces".