Voodoo – D’Angelo
Without this artist an entire genre of music may have never been created. He blended hip-hop, soul, jazz, and gospel music together to create what is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. Then he disappeared. D’Angelo was the son of a fire and brimstone pentecostal preacher in Virginia who started playing piano at the age of 3. He signed his first recording contract at 20 and had released the masterpiece Voodoo by 27. He won several Grammy awards for the album, sold over 1.7 million copies in the USA alone, and went on a nearly sold out world tour. To create the album he worked with a star studded group of musicians that included drummer Questlove (The Roots), legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla, and bassist Pino Palladino (Erykah Badu, John Mayer). The songs are “blatantly disrespectful to the rules of rhythm and melody structure,” according to Questlove. Songs like Playa Playa and Chicken Grease illustrate this beautiful disrespect. Everything is off the beat and there are basically no traditional songwriting rules being honored. The vocals are so heavily layered that it can be hard to even follow the melodies. But the combination of jazz chords, hip-hop beats, and soul hooks crystallize in an intoxicating feeling when you listen. It gives me a similar feeling to Bill Evan’s music, it transports me somewhere else. When the risqué music video for the song Untitled (How Does It Feel) was released it cemented his image as a “sex symbol” and pop sensation. During the world tour for the album he began to get “frightened” by the power of the stage and the spotlight. He says in the 2019 documentary Devil’s Pie, “that happened to me on Voodoo. I felt it like a whisper…like look at the power that you possess. If Yahweh grants you that gift and you’re not being responsible about it, that can be very scary.” So shortly after the tour he completely removed himself from it all. He went home to Virginia and wouldn’t release another album until 2014’s critically acclaimed Black Messiah. His tour manager (who also worked with James Brown and Prince) said that, “he wrestled with the idea of a career in secular music that can be quite sexual in nature versus devoting his musical talents to the church.” That tension seemed to haunt D’Angelo and caused him to stay secluded for much of his career. This past week he passed away having released only 3 studio albums. If you’ve never listened, start with Voodoo from the top. It is unlike anything that was made before or ever will be made.

Soft – LANY
I discovered this band when I heard one of their songs in the cafeteria at Berklee College of Music and have been a fan ever since. It’s alternative pop with lots of synths and layers that are always so sonically pleasing and this new album doesn’t disappoint. The themes in the songs usually revolve around love and heartbreak. Their 2018 album Malibu Nights (also really great) was about Dua Lipa breaking up with lead singer Paul Klein (he was understandably quite upset about it). But in interviews for the new album Klein has been talking about how a lot of this album is kinda encouraging men to become more “aware and in touch with their emotions and their feelings.” He’s holding a lamb on the cover representing the “softness” that he’s trying to protect against becoming too hard and numb. Some of my favorite songs are Stuck, Good Parts, and Last Forever. 

Changes – Charlie Puth
When I was at Berklee I had a professor who also taught this artist and told me that he was one of the best producers he’d ever seen. Naturally he’s now world famous and just released a new song last week. He leans more typical pop generally and I wasn’t expecting anything new when I saw he was releasing a new album but I was surprised by this one. One of my favorite songs that he’s put out is a single called Mother from 2019 and this new single reminds me of it. It’s got an 80s feeling to it while still sounding relevant and modern. The intro into the first verse feels like it could be the theme song for a 90s sitcom then it goes into this Phil Collins esque chorus. I also like the art direction and the music video reminds me of the Home Improvement intro (one of the best sitcoms from the 90s). It feels like he’s leaning more into his own interests and sensibilities.

1960’s Motown Soul AI Covers – Almost Real
Will artificial intelligence replace everyone’s job, be used against us in a civilization ending war, or reach superintelligence and decide humans aren’t necessary? I do not know, but I do know that the AI covers of popular songs on YouTube have been getting REALLY good. The best channel I’ve found doing this so far is called Almost Real. They’re generating 60’s Motown versions of songs and they’re scary good. It’s kinda obvious that the vocals are AI generated if you listen closely but if you heard it in public you’d probably never know the difference. Some of the good ones are the covers of 50 Cent’s Many Men, Frank Ocean’s White Ferrari, and Kanye West’s Heartless. I’m not saying it’s great for the music industry but, as Brad Pitt says in Moneyball, “adapt or die.”

Hope you listen to great music this week!
Dawson