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Album of the week:
Jazmine Sullivan - "Heaux Tales"
The head is booming, the body is vibrating, the soul is on fire: where did I spend the last night?
And who was this guy that I had sex with?
»Gotta stop getting fucked up«, sings Jazmine Sullivan in »Bodies«, the first, terribly outrageous gospel of her new album - and reminds yourself: pull yourself together, bitch, you have too many one-night stands, collect lots of corpses in the basement, "you're getting sloppy, girl".
The great thing about this song is that the realization of your own slovenliness is not synonymous with feelings of inferiority.
On the contrary: the pride in the sexual promiscuity of being a "Ho" (or "Heaux"), that is, a whore from the point of view of men, is on an equal footing, if not flirtatious, with all natural self-doubt was reserved for a male perspective in earlier pop times.
But more and more women in pop music, especially soul and R&B, are addressing their sexuality with increasing self-confidence and using their art to emancipate themselves from the bigoted, patriarchal evaluation of their behavior.
They also sing about the situations in which they do not look good, good or cute, are not the victims of ignorance or abuse, but also prosperous and comfort-conscious beasts and "gold diggers", lustful and aggressive, but also deeply vulnerable , sensitive and in need of love.
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Jazmine Sullivan
Heaux Tales [Explicit]
Label: RCA Records Label
Availability: Now available for download.
Label: RCA Records Label
Availability: Now available for download.
approx. € 10.99
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01/22/2021 8:53 p.m.
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Jazmine Sullivan, a multiple Grammy-nominated singer from Philadelphia, has now dedicated a masterful concept album to this complexity.
The »tales«, which she then brings together in just one short but very intense half an hour, are for the first time not only her own, but also short, frankly chatting spoken word interludes from friends, including the bluntly sex-positive singer Ari Lennox .
The confident pose that Sullivan takes is reminiscent of the empowerment pioneer Billie Holiday and her defiant, provocative "Ain't nobody's business if I do": It doesn't concern anyone how unchaste and amoral I am, especially not the guys.
This
ladies' business
has already been taken over by modern hip-hop and R&B artists such as SZA and HER (here as guest singer), most recently even pop princess Ariana Grande on her sex album "Positions".
But Sullivan, 33, who composes and writes her own songs, is a different category when it comes to singing alone.
She is considered one of the greatest talents of the past decade, even if there were often longer intervals between her releases due to private turbulence, most recently she released an album in 2015.
Her painful, angry break-up single "Bust Your Windows" from her debut "Fearless" (2008) is considered a milestone in younger, traditional soul.
US critics have already compared the spectrum of music and content of “Heaux Tales” with groundbreaking genre albums such as Lauryn Hill's “Miseducation”.
In terms of sound, Sullivan's songwriting is actually based more on old-school beats and the vocal soul of the eighties and nineties than on contemporary chart pop.
The spectacle is not the music, but Sullivan's voice and her all-round fearless attitude.
Andreas Borcholte's playlist
Photo:
Christian O. Bruch / laif
Jazmine Sullivan: Bodies
Arlo Parks: Hurt
Billie Eilish & Rosalía: Lo vas a olvidar
Michaela Meise: Cemalim
Masha Qrella: Dark Blue
Noel: Toro Bravo
The P: Nobody can tell me
Alfa Mist: Run Outs
Regener Pappik Busch: Holy Land
Palberta: Eggs n'Bac '
Go to Spotify playlist Right arrow Go to Apple Music playlist Right arrow
In the ballad »Lost One«, reduced to a ghostly guitar peal and choirs, she calls after her ex-lover in a heartbreakingly sad way: »Just don't have too much fun without me« and a few lines later admits: »I know I ' m a selfish bitch «.
In the casual swing beat of "Pick Up Your Feelings", however, she is far less conciliatory, but rather annoyed by the mimosa-like nature of the guy who has just been disposed of.
The time when Jazmine Sullivan was an insider tip among soul connoisseurs should be over with this triumphant - and very contemporary - comeback.
In her virtual live appearance at the Soul Train Awards in November, she staged herself, again Holiday-like, as a "Black Lives Matter" -conscious diva in a black and white setting, who gets along in a cloakroom reserved only for "Colored" power.
At the beginning of February she will sing the American national anthem with country star Eric Church at the football superbowl.
In 2021, so much seems clear, a lot will be said about these “Heaux Tales”.
(9.0)
Listened briefly:
Rhye - "Home"
Even the intro of »Home« reminds of yoga relaxation exercises with haaa-hoo-hoo choirs: The Canadian musician Mike Milosh alias Rhye is completely in the mood for lockdown with his new album.
Unfortunately, his deliberately cuddly electro-soul grooves, performed in howling head falsetto, are so low-tension that the limp handclaps of "Come In Closer" alone make one aggressive.
Hut fever.
(2.0)
Bicep - "Isles"
Then you prefer a relaxed rave simulation in the home office!
The DJ duo Bicep is unfortunately stuck in Northern Ireland because of the pandemic, otherwise it would have long been playing the clubs with their rather not muscled, but spherical trance sound of footwoork, house, breakbeats and esoteric tinkling, for example in Berghain at this time only a virtual CTM festival.
Sigh.
(6.5)
Palberta - "Palberta5000"
During live performances (huh, back then!), The three young musicians from Palberta constantly swap their instruments.
Correspondingly chaotic sounds the likable nooks and crannies of punk pop by the DIY trio from New York.
For the first time, »Palberta5000« could attract more attention to the band: Their jokes about cows, ants or breakfast with eggs and bacon have for the first time something like pop appeal.
(7.0)
