Opening Alicia Keys' new album,
The Element of Freedom , is a monologue entitled, what else "Element of Freedom (Intro)"-
"
And the day came
When the risk it took
To remain tight and closed in the bud
Was more painful
Than the risk it took to bloom.
This is the element of freedom."
Poetry? Lyrical insight? My vote- neither. What it is evidence of is the route the proceeding album will take. But more on that later.
Alicia Keys, after studying classical music in the 80's, and bursting onto the popular music scene in 2001 at the tender age of 20, arrives at her fourth studio album. She has a truck load of awards and records, and in all fairness to her, she's one of the brightest, most talented stars the first decade of the 2000's has produced. With hit album
Songs in A Minor, she earned comparisons to Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder and Prince, not for her insightful writing (most of the album was written when she was a teenager), but because of how the album almost perfectly melded elements of jazz, hip-hop and R&B. So far so good.
Next came
The Diary of Alicia Keys that while almost aggravatingly top-heavy, was a much more adult affair. She did the MTV Unplugged thing (why that series is still relevant is still anyone's guess), flexed her acting muscles, then came back with
As I Am, bolstered by the huge hit "No One". The elements and success of that particular song are particularly interesting- not only did it keep in check Keys' usual
modus operandi (heart-on-sleeves lyrics, earnest vocals, memorable production and hook), but what it did more than anything was to show that Keys wasn't just an R&B singer who happened to be popular, but was really a pop singer who happened to have an affinity for R&B. So she collaborated with Linda Perry (Pink, Christina Aguilera) and John Mayer, but even that couldn't hide Keys' main problems- her oft-times pedestrian lyrics.
Back to
The Element of Freedom.
First song here is entitled "Love is Blind", a cliché for a song title if ever there was one. "Well people don't see what I see/Even when them right there/Standing next to me/And all of my friends think I'm crazy for loving you/But they don't know/There's nothing else I can do," Keys sings over drippy, as-slow-as-you-can-go Prince-esque shifting drums. There's this laughable Egyptian element to it, too, that only makes Keys' vocals sound irritating and horrible.
Up next is first single "Doesn't Mean Anything", largely forgotten on radio and the charts. At the beginning, the song is pleasant enough, but as it plods on, we lose interest. Oh. And try not to cringe when she sings "Rather be a poor woman living on the street/Cuz I don't want no pie if I have to cry."
Second single "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" finally comes along to shake things up. Again, Prince comes to mind with its dense 80's-lite drum thuds. The song starts on a thin whisper before Keys is all confident at the bridge- "Rather than hold on to a broken dream, i'll just hold on to love." Admittedly, it's another vacuous line, but at least it feels honest. (As a sidenote: it's a great song to dance to at the club.)
Alas, she goes right back to the pretty generalities with "Wait Til You See My Smile"- "Don't they love to see you down/Kick you while you are in the ground/Don't let any emotions show." They who? You who?? If this is Keys' attempt to use her music to try to encourage her listeners who may be going through hard times, this is a pathetic attempt. Girl, you aint no Mary J. Blige; pain is not your strong point.
"Through the shake of an earthquake/I will never fall/That's how strong my love is/Like a ship through the storm/We can risk it all/That's how strong my love is" goes the chorus of "That's How Strong My Love Is". And for elevators and department stores, this one should be a big hit.
"Unthinkable (I'm Ready)" is the second stand out on this disc. (If you're following, we're at track 7. Do the math.) Keys sounds vulnerable and desperate, even sexy in the right parts. Co-written by rapper Drake, who also performs background vocals behind her, Keys' breathily chants: "I know you were sent to me/This is exactly how it should be when it's meant to be/Time is only wasting so I wait for eventually." Onto the disc's second half...
...And it opens with Keys all gutted and coarse on "Love is My Disease"- "I thought love would be my cure/ But now it’s my disease/ I try to act mature/ But I’m a baby when you leave,’’ she sings, her voice snagging on the word “baby’’ as if hurting too much to say it aloud. It's probably the first song she's ever done with an overt reggae-tinge, and the album is made all the better for its inclusion.
"Like the Sea" compares love to the turbulent waves and currents of the sea, and if you've ever been in love, her similie isn't too far off. Too bad the song is a tad flat and runs out of ideas half way through.
Next song "Put It In a Love Song" is interesting not only because it is stylistically different than anything else on the album, but because it features Beyoncé, an entertainer and performer who, while still operating under the large umbrella that is R&B, couldn't be more stylistically opposed to Alicia Keys if she tried. But God bless Beyoncé's soul; she adds some much needed sass and juice to this snoozer of an album. When her verse rolls around, we kinda forget we're listening to an Alicia Keys song until it's Keys' turn again. Then it clicks- with all her talent and acclaim, Alicia Keys isn't very interesting. It wasn't evident ever since Keys appeared on the scene, we just weren't allowed to see it with how loud the industry mill was roaring.
Does Keys realize the album is lacking sass? With next song "This Bed", it seems so, but even with combining a refreshingly sunny guitar riff and smart lyrics (for once!) like "These king size sheets need more than just a queen", Alicia still sounds half-interesting. Both "Distance and Time" and "How It Feels to Fly" pair a simpering piano arrangement with a melisma-heavy vocal well beyond the capacities of Keys's voice. Then she tries her hand at remaking, if you will, Jay-Z's smash "Empire State of Mind", which she memorably contributed to. That's a hard task, and Keys' intent seem questionable, to say the least, but surprise surprise- she damn near succeeds. She excises the hip-hop, thankfully she doesn't try to rap, and injects a lil more soul. Still, it all comes a little too late.
As smart and savvy a songwriter as Keys should be able to do better than this, particularly now that she has a decade of experience under her belt. Now that she's entering the middle phase of her career, it's high time Keys gave us a classic album. At this point, it seems all Alicia will be able to give us is a decent Greatest Hits compilation.
Perhaps it's unfair to judge Keys by the excessive hype whipped up surrounding almsot evrything she's done. But it's surely a compliment to suggest that someone as abundantly gifted as she is can do better than this boring, rarely decent, disappointingly generic record.
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