Kelela - Cut 4 Me

Preemptively starting this so I have a place to fan out tomorrow.

"Bank Head" is top 5 this year obv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_2eYvrEJw

it feels really weird that a few years ago this was the kind of project i dreamed of

i just don't like the direction night slugs/fade to mind have gone in over the past year or two - those awkward, stop-start beats, the lack of groove or direction, the way all their beats feel like hanging in space waiting for something to happen that never does - no melodic or rhythm hook at all. they sound pretty but you can't get your teeth into them let alone dance to them. when i listen back to the NS/F2M tracks i fell in love with, and still love, there's so much more drama and urgency about them. pretty sure all of this is completely intended and they're making exactly the kind of music they want to but it's not for me any more.

kelela does what she can with beats i mostly don't care about, i guess. "floor show" and "cut 4 me" are the best trax here on a couple of listens. it's never less than pretty and sounds a bit like i once imagined r&g would sound in places. i haven't finished giving it a chance but overall, siiiigh

(it's sort of funny to me that of all that crew, ikonika's the one who's really kept pushing her music in meaty but completely distinct directions, including doing a pretty triumphant vocal track (for a singer who, left to her own devices, turned out to be totally dullsville!). not that i ever doubted ikonika's talent but she was the one who was much more consciously ~limited~ when she started out)

it'll probably get lots of attention and praise because people have idealised the concept of such a record so hard, i guess

Or because, you know, some of us actually like it!

But I'm not going to get into the meta conversation because I'd rather talk about how much I love the way she bites into Enemy.

Feel free to explain what's so great about it!

not everything is made for dancing, lex

it's not like it works on a slow jam level either *shrug*

I don't have any baggage to attach to this other than having seen a few people on my feeds being enthusiastic about it and liking the songs they linked to, so when I say I think it's really good, it's because I just think it's really good, not because of any idealizing.

I think this is really, really good. I love her voice. also love how bassy the tracks are.

A kinda quirk of this I like is how often these songs start of sounding like they could be the intro to some really chipper synthpop tunes and then just become something else entirely.

"Bank Head" is top 5 this year obv.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, October 1, 2013 1:50 AM (18 hours ago) Bookmark

the natural and just evolutionary end of the clapper

otm!

i just don't like the direction night slugs/fade to mind have gone in over the past year or two - those awkward, stop-start beats, the lack of groove or direction, the way all their beats feel like hanging in space waiting for something to happen that never does - no melodic or rhythm hook at all. they sound pretty but you can't get your teeth into them let alone dance to them.

Eh, that's not really true for me at all, if anything early NS/FTM stuff has taught me how to appreciate their newer stuff. And I absolutely love negative space in my dance music. Like I've long noticed when I break down with Tim over dance music it's usually because of his bias towards maximalism and mine towards minimalism. But Kelela's presence kind of makes this all moot by providing a focal point other than the beats.

But anyway, Alex in MTL otm. "Enemy" is the most gorgeous thing ever and this tape is somehow managed to live up to my high expectations. Besides, it's 2013 and slow jams are the best type of music to dance to anyway ;-)

And I like Ikonika but she's just about the border of what I'll tolerate as far as going in a more techno-y direction.

Can we talk about Nguzunguzu bringing in the "Moments in Love" flip at the end of "Something Else"? Like of course they do that, but you don't actually expect them to, so it's one of those perfect moments of unexpected obviousness that make me melt.

Kinda lol/fitting that I'm quite enjoying this.

Naturally.

I think because I struggled with the dancefloor aspect of a lot of early NS and affiliated stuff in the first instance, I don't mourn its diminution the way Lex does - to my mind, engagingly intricate/fussy non-functional pseudo-R&B beats is possibly a better look for many of these producers.

Oh yeah, weird syncopation being the other thing that's total catnip to me.

Really must hear this. Tomorrow, hopefully.

I have seen this played out in clubs and people did dance tho

(I was DJing at an afterparty at that Basilica Sound Scape festival with the dude who runs Tr1angl3 R3cords and he played "Bank Head" and people totally got down to it- it's just a different kinda vibe)

Yeah people have def danced whenever I've heard "Bank Head" out.

intricate/fussy

these are negatives to me. we've been here before, where others hear "weird syncopation" i just hear stilted and awkward

i've seen people dance to latter-day night slugs, i can't do it though - just too dry and stilted.

i did envisage kelela providing some sort of focal point but i feel like her songwriting does much the same "hang in the air on the verge of doing something that never happens" thing as the beats

haha I chose "fussy" as an alternate expressly to allow that yr mileage would probably vary lex.

tbh i don't even hear them as fussy or intricate, just awkward and rigid

I do too - rigid certainly, and if not always awkward to my ears then at least deliberately "ungainly" - but I suppose I can deal with it better as straight soundworld indulgence rather than when it sounds like someone took a perfectly decent house track and sprained its ankle.

It seems a reasonable thing to be turned off by though, IMO.

I could mostly give less of a fuck about a perfectly good house track at this point tbh

Even the straightforward "functional" dance music I'm into is club or ballroom or juke or falling in between those cracks.

Bun fire pon 4x4

but I suppose I can deal with it better as straight soundworld indulgence rather than when it sounds like someone took a perfectly decent house track and sprained its ankle.

i'm mostly thinking of stuff like "fogs", not to mention early jam city stuff like "arpjam", which are still some of my favourite dance trax of this decade, as examples of that urgency (not nec 4x4) which i find completely lacking among NS/F2M, including kelela, lately

Kelela's definitely going for a different thing than those tracks tho, more of a floaty, romantic vibe sometimes offset by jagged tracks. Something like "Bank Head" is more made to body roll and dance sexy to than stomp your feet and that's ALWAYS ALWAYS better.

We really need to have a thread on drums/bass/momentum/kineticism in music and what does and doesn't work for people, not necessarily dance music either. Because early NS just did not work for me at all on a basic physical level even when it was ostensibly similar to other stuff I liked.

Dance in between the beats

LOL some of us do know what dancing involves Rev.

I guess I specifically have a love for dance music that challenges me as a dancer.

This is one of the things I find awesome about footwork is basically its whole central premise as music specifically made for dance battles is the tension between how challenging it can be to dance to but still able to be danced to by a skillful dancer.

Thing is it's not just about dancing is it? A lot of the listening contexts for this music happen when there's no dancing at all taking place. I like footwork because the rhythmic patterns work for me on a very basic level and would never even think of trying to dance to it. And in 99% of the situations when I actually dance anything that particularly 'challenges' me would be doomed to disaster.

I mean obviously dancing is the primary purpose but if the music is any good you can get a lot out of it away from the dancefloor.

I guess I specifically have a love for dance music that challenges me as a dancer.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, October 2, 2013 9:19 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I broadly have the same sympathies, which is why in general terms jungle and 2-step and funky are closer to the centre of my taste than are typical house or techno.

OTOH my preferred form of "challenge" is one where the music is rhythmically more fluent, and dares you to try to keep up, as opposed to the inverse situation where the music kinda bludgeons about in an ungainly manner, in a deliberate debasement of rhythmic fluency vis a vis, say, house - although certainly I can also think of examples of this approach which I absolutely love.

Where I think the Kelela album does well is in raising the latter approach to its own level/form of fluency through intensification. I can imagine people dancing to some of this but it seems like a secondary effect.

i guess the dancing thing is a red herring w/r/t kelela specifically, i'm aware it's not made for that as such, but the same issues that have made NS club tracks in the past year-ish so undanceable to me are the same issues that make this underwhelming to me, it's the rigidity and refusal to do anything except hang there twitching. prettiness is really not enough when it doesn't parlay that into meat at some point

yeah i was gonna say why are we talking about this like it's a dance album

Yeah, that was a tangent. But Tim otm.

hah if ever further proof were needed that tim is la puta madre when it comes to sweetening up disses

Lovely listen, this. Currently on "Floor Show"

Only about half way through but not feeling this at all. With a better vocalist it might have worked but her voice is kind of thin and the songwriting isn't really good enough for it to work as R&B. Also the beats are so torpid and lacking in energy even when they're fast.

i gave it another try and it's not the negative space in the beats i don't like, it's the fucking stop-start lack of a groove - like on "cut 4 me", which is probably as strong as the album gets, even there you have that pretty good loop which just PAUSES after every iteration for no reason at all. kingdom started out making infinitely better vocal music than this so it's just massively disappointing.

Yeah I don't think this realizes the potential of forward-looking production and R&B vocalist.

It sounds like most of these guys aren't giving Kelela their best shit and her writing is pretty boilerplate at times. This crawls to the finish line. I still like it, but it's not quite there yet.

Lex, have you every considered the idea that you might be rhythmically inadequate or deficient, and not this music?

For Fans of: FKA Twigs, Ruby Goe, Aaliyah

i'm good

I've not paid much attention since The Perfect Lullaby but kinda despairing that this is the sort of R&B that Nguzunguzu decide to make when they get the chance.

This tape sounds pretty good to me, but I understand the indifference. It epitomizes everything that's meh about R&B in 2013: tiny voiced singers who mistake minimalism for substance; production that sounds like it came from glass studios where you can't touch anything; songs that don't stick; AlunaGeorge-isms, etc.

this sound just codes as super yuppie to me atp

This tape sounds pretty good to me, but I understand the indifference. It epitomizes everything that's meh about R&B in 2013: tiny voiced singers who mistake minimalism for substance; production that sounds like it came from glass studios where you can't touch anything; songs that don't stick; AlunaGeorge-isms, etc.

― Evan R, Friday, October 4, 2013 10:21 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bingo. this style is dead as ... dead. heroin's coming back in a big fuckin way

Y'all have never been so wrong.

ILM you disappoint me.

evan otm. it does sound "pretty good" but...that's it

also idk who "josephine" is but i'm calling sock at any poster who seemingly only shows up to snark at me

get over yourself, b

whenever i see this thread title i hear the weeknd singing "take a cut for me"

FWIW I'm not grading its quality either way, just expressing a general ennui w/ the entire approach

haven't really digested this whole thing yet and though i think evan's assessment has an element of truth to it, "enemy" kinda refutes the idea that this is all very precious

production that sounds like it came from glass studios where you can't touch anything

i think this is less of a problem here... a lot of these beats are hard. one of the best things about this record. they would break glass studios! i understand the lineage you're referring to but i think it's a red herring here.

when the songs fail it's because the producers misunderstand timbaland's genius as purely related to his drums instead of his drums rubbing against the textures of traditional, soulful R&B. production nerd problems, i'd wager.

but i like this record. i don't think it's GREAT but the songwriting is stronger than i anticipated. i also think the vocals are generally pretty good except when she sounds too much like cassie (my main prob with "bank head"). also i think this leans closer to so so def-era bass music than it's getting credit for.

that said i do sympathize with lex in that i wish there were songs here that had momentum. there's a lot of banging up and down here — and i like that about it, "enemy" and "floor show" and "cut 4 me" — but not enough pushing forward

i'm with rev, this is great.

lex is right that this needs to be more danceable though lol

it's like two albums worth of good slow jams crammed into one which sounds good but is kinda boring

actually it's funny that evan made the "glass studio" quip when there's literally the sound of glass shattering in one song

lol, does 'guns & synths' use the gchat notification sound on the backbeat every so often? it's tripping me out.

i think this is plenty danceable in its way, thought that was the whole idea.

Up and down but not forward is a v good description of the beats (and why I don't get with them)

do you mean like in terms of dynamics (structure, builds, etc) or just how the grooves feel?

How the (NON) grooves feel I guess?

the actual slow jams (minus minimal dance beats) at the end of the record are stunning

This is growing on me a lot. Wish "Go All Night" was a full track.

the glass thing is probably one of Jam City's?

I thought it was the NA track?

I thought this would be boring like jessy lanza, but it's actually pretty nice. I'm all for night slugs/fade to mind + vocals.

yeah lanza did cross my mind too but it def doesnt deserved to be put it with that ilk

jeez.. deserve to be put in

none of these melodies are sticking in my head at all but it doesn't matter, i can't stop listening to this.

it's the beats, but they wouldn't work at all without the vocals, there would be nothing there.

"Enemy" has been in my head all the time (as well as "Bank Head" obv), but otherwise true

Up and down but not forward is a v good description of the beats (and why I don't get with them)

― lex pretend, Friday, October 4, 2013 10:54 AM Bookmark

I actually agree with this, in that they're meant to BOUNCE

'bank head' is an exception for sure, although it still reminds me of 'stillness is the move'.

Up and down but not forward is a v good description of the beats (and why I don't get with them)

― lex pretend, Friday, October 4, 2013 10:54 AM Bookmark

I actually agree with this, in that they're meant to BOUNCE

― The Reverend, Monday, October 7, 2013 5:19 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i don't think it's a negative across the board, just wish there was a bit more variation

re: bounce, i agree, they're built like dance beats but feel like rap beats.

'floor show' is pretty hooky too i guess.

oh yeah, that one too

"floor show" and "enemy" are easily the best two imo except for "go all night" but i'm not counting that

that morris beat is so majestic tho

The refrain from the title track is the earwormiest thing here for me.

"floor show" and "cut 4 me" are the best two imo (and the only ones which approach keeper status)

that morris beat is so majestic tho

― The Reverend, Monday, October 7, 2013 5:58 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah... is the track supposed to be a teaser or is it really just a 90 second song forever

there's two 90 second parts. wish it was just one song tho.

ah right i didn't even make that connection lol... that's stupid

I'll rep for the hookiness of "Do It Again".

this is really growing me, i kind of love it now

Seriously Lex you think those tunes are substantially better than "Bank Head"? I ask because it would seem to me that "Bank Head" is the tune that I'd be most inclined to describe as a "roller" i.e. to my ears it would evade a lot of the criticisms you make upthread.

i was disappointed by "bank head" when it first came out and still don't think much of it, basically even in a kinda unsatisfactory listen i'll still gravitate towards its more aggressive moments

not that they're that special, just alright. k michelle album so much better

even though I like the more aggressive moments on this, for me r&b is kind of what I listen to to get away from aggression.

I'm glad we've moved onto the inane false binary stage.

"something else" >>>>>>

there's a full version of "go all night" out today: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-all-night-single/id728850909

also the first release on Solange's new label, which has me interested in seeing what Solange as curator results in.

She already opened a tour for Solange.

"Send Me Out" makes me feel some type of way :|

listened to this straight through again yesterday. still love it but now 'Floor Show', 'Something Else', and 'A Lie' are the ones really sticking.

this is so good damn

♫ it's what they call , a lie-y-ei ♫

i'm so all about the minimalism in the production

the only track that sounds like lex' descrip (no groove, stop start, "up and down") are title track, send me out, guns & synth, enemy, keep it cool. so less than half. rest got grooves for miles. whole thing rules tho

so good

https://soundcloud.com/kelelam/the-high-prod-by-gifted

*waits for something to happen*

*waits*

*song ends*

things happening are overrated. i'm ok with kelela songs that sound like an extended breakdown.

things happening are overrated.

― festival culture (Jordan), Wednesday, February 5, 2014 4:06 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

smh

haha. for real, i like catharsis as much as anyone, but there's room for the opposite too.

the opposite of catharsis isn't NOTHING

it's not her best song but there's some slow-burn tension there and a couple of hooks that work for me. i just love her commitment to minimalism. maybe you forgot to click play?

i am familiar with minimalism and how amazing it can sound but there needs to be some THERE there. early cassie - which pretty much invented the surfeit of this kind of r&b right now - sounds packed with max martin hooks in comparison

wow this sounds exactly like a weeknd song

Produced by Gifted & Blessed(!)

Though not into it really:(

This is just ok, but let's be real, if this was an Amel Larrieux album track (which it practically is), lex wouldn't have shit to say about it.

Ha, I didn't even think about the fact that Kelela always cites Amel as the person who inspired her to be a singer til I hit submit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/kelela-an-randb-star-to-be/2014/04/14/f4681b6a-bb4a-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html

Interview with her

As with “Cut 4 Me,” Kelela says the recording sessions for her new album have taken place in Los Angeles, London and across the digital plane. Fittingly, the music video for Bok Bok and Kelela’s squeaky new single, “Melba’s Call,” features an empty studio with the singer Skyped in on a video screen.

Meantime, Kelela says she’s hunkering down, fending off record labels until the album is complete. “I’m just trying to make it good,” she says. And by good, she means unbearably excellent. “I’m waiting for the moment when I’m jumping around the room because I can’t even deal with it.”

I like the song with tink

this is rad! crazy - i kept seeing her name popping up here and there and thought "hey i remember a really cool girl i met in college named kelela" but i'm not really a huge R&B dude so i didn't look into it to see if it was her. what are the chances right? but holy fuck i looked into this morning and it's her! she was cool as fuck too, really super friendly and warm, easy going and chill. we had some mutual friends, a jazz musician i knew and also a girl i dated and eventually became good friends with. kelela was really into jazz at the time (so was i) so we talked about jazz a lot. she was part of this whole crew that hung out at the student-run coffee shop like all day, a group of us just kind of dominated that place. rad!

but yea anyways this album is good

This song with Kindness is faboo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVs4P4lSB6w

Arca + Kelela, wowowow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4-9mYrbXVI&feature=youtu.be

ehh bjork worked with arca w/o sounding like she was trying to ride twigs' coattails

oh yeah it's super Twigsy, but more memorable than most Kelela jams imo.

thought this was awesome

i really like "rewind" -- it's as pandering as anything she's ever done but the lyrical concept really works for me. the chorus also feels like a wind up toy kinda which is something i like about good bass songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=240&v=py6PgXq0yDM

b/w this & the jessy lanza/dj spinn record feel like it's been a lil bit of a comeback year for consciously cool hipster R&B

have you heard the abra record j0rdan?

it's on my list of things to listen to

I'm always very happy to come across a song from Cut 4 Me but have somehow unwittingly avoided anything else she's done.

i dig cut 4 me but i tend to listen in chunks rather than straight through

"a message" is outstanding i think

YO REWIND IS FLAAAAMES

i am really, really digging the hallucinogen ep

title track is awesome

this is cool: http://songexploder.net/kelela

Really regretting sleeping on this and missing her when she came to town. Hallucinogen is so good all the way through, but especially "A Message."

newish trailer, I guess:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZBnWO3UUh4

sounds like the new stuff is coming from a more loved-up place. her bf directed.

Listening to Hallucinogen EP now - great.

yesss very excited for the lp

love this ep

Her "debut album" is coming out in October and the lead single is huge: https://open.spotify.com/album/5FEEH1krjffTBOsf7xgvw6

Super exciting day in music announcements for me between this and the new Circuit Des Yeux

Really looking forward to this album. Also she is insanely good looking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePi5BLJogyA

album out

??????

album NOW out and v good

last 3 tracks in particular have absolutely destroyed me

So good.

Very excited for this.

I found her past stuff a little underwhelming. How does this compare?

it's better

I wish Lex were still around to goad me into listening to this :(

Bank head extended mix was one of my favourite tracks from its respective year. Can't wait to hear the new one

First impression - most of the best songs are in the second half. Sign of a confident artist.

'The High' was my favourite off the Hallucinogen EP. Does her latest expand on that facet of her sound at all or maintain it at the very least? Or has she embraced more conventional pop structures?

i think structurally this is very much still boundary pushing for a dance/R&B hybrid, but there are songs like "LMK" and "Waitin" that I suppose that have more conventional mechanics

"Waiting" and "Onanon" are practically Janet songs.

fuck me "frontline" is amazing

only two listens in on album so far and there's a lot to digest but so far it's pretty great

I've been listening non-stop. The best ballads remind me of Velvet Rope-era Janet.

Great performance on Jools Holland (hopefully available to non-UKers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKML5psaCs8

New LP is FIRE, good lawd. Probably end up my AOTY

this was a really good read https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2524

really enjoyed this, especially "frontline"

lovely cover of Sade's "Like A Tattoo" on BBCR1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqVxMDwGtBo

I really wish I could hear what you guys are hearing in this. There's a few nice production touches but Kelela herself doesn't bring much except a technical competency. It all feels like it's trudging along at the same pace and lacking personality.

Why are publications that wouldn't normally touch an r&b album fawning over this? What is it that lends this a greater sense of... legitimacy?

It’s on Warp.

I liked ‘Cut 4 Me’ but haven’t gotten around to checking out the album.

Label Warp
Producer
Kelela (exec.) Ariel Rechtshaid (also exec.) Jam City (also exec.) Arca Bok Bok Dubbel Dutch Kingdom Kwes Asma Maroof Mocky Aaron David Ross Al Shux Loric Sih Terror Danjah Nick Weiss

I really wish I could hear what you guys are hearing in this. There's a few nice production touches but Kelela herself doesn't bring much except a technical competency. It all feels like it's trudging along at the same pace and lacking personality.

She's good at writing about confusing sex, and she can sing about it too. This and Kehlani's album are among my favorite R&B albums of the year.

The Kehlani album is probably my favourite album of the year (sorry Susanne Sundfør) and I get that this is going for a different thing anyway but I do feel like it's getting a free pass and acclaim when it's lacking in many ways. It does improve in the final tracks but compared to something like the (ultimately underwhelming) Sevyn Streeter album this just feels like a slog to get through.

The whole situation makes me think of Dawn Richard too. Redemptionheart came with Machinedrum's credibility but it was nowhere near as good as its predecessor.

I mean I hate to be comparing women of colour who make music to each other and r&b purism does nobody any favours. But it's not like the production on the Kehlani/Sevyn/whatever contemporary r&b album is particularly lacking when compared to this

I think there are different layers of contextual appreciation at work: yes, for some people the Warp / Fade To Mind connections are going to be important. But I think the other component at work is how this album plugs very carefully into a now widely celebrated critical articulation of opulent r&b balladry. An artist adopting as her aesthetic centre the trajectory of Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” —> Janet’s “Empty” —> Ciara’s “Promise” is always gonna be critical catnip (well for the last ten yeas or so at any rate).

Other r&b artists slip through this sound but it’s not their selling point - e.g. Dawn strives for something more portentous, while Kehlani is more focused on relatability.

I guess the question then becomes how one feels about the secret history of this vibe being transformed into something more concrete and explicit: of course it’d be nice if more people dove into old deep cuts like Ashanti’s “Voodoo” but I can’t begrudge the handiness of Kelela adopting this sound for a sustained exploration of its parameters, or the possibilities that affords.

I'm surprised to see a comment reducing Kelela's role on this album to mere technical competence. That may have applied to Cut 4 Me but I hear so much more confidence in her vocals now; without sounding too wishy washy there's a connection between sound and feeling on this album that was only hinted at in her early songs.

This video, where she discusses the meaning behind each song on the album, underscores that notion and I thought the passion with which she spoke was really telling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWPDww10aic

I think there are different layers of contextual appreciation at work: yes, for some people the Warp / Fade To Mind connections are going to be important. But I think the other component at work is how this album plugs very carefully into a now widely celebrated critical articulation of opulent r&b balladry. An artist adopting as her aesthetic centre the trajectory of Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” —> Janet’s “Empty” —> Ciara’s “Promise” is always gonna be critical catnip (well for the last ten yeas or so at any rate).

Other r&b artists slip through this sound but it’s not their selling point - e.g. Dawn strives for something more portentous, while Kehlani is more focused on relatability.

I guess the question then becomes how one feels about the secret history of this vibe being transformed into something more concrete and explicit: of course it’d be nice if more people dove into old deep cuts like Ashanti’s “Voodoo” but I can’t begrudge the handiness of Kelela adopting this sound for a sustained exploration of its parameters, or the possibilities that affords.

― Tim F, Wednesday, October 18, 2017 4:42 PM (fifty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

very good post. where do you stand on this one vs. cut for you?

xpost If that's in response to me monotony that wasn't my intention. I agree that Kelela's songwriting and performances are really strong here (this is part of the "sustained exploration of parameters/possibilities"), to be clear, I really like this album!

But the question of "why is X artist getting more critical shine than Y artist if Y artist is also really good" is rarely totally resolved by "because X is just better". Especially where the X and the Y proffered are Kelela and Kehlani...

i like kehlani more but i get why kelela gets more critical laurels

xp no Tim that was in response to boxedjoy's comment upthread.

deej it's been so long since I listened to Cut 4 Me that it's hard for me to compare the two, though that in turn implies that Cut 4 Me didn't really cut it 4 me.

"Empty" is the aural touchstone I had in mine too. Also: "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)"

i like kehlani more but i get why kelela gets more critical laurels

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40)

the Kehlani album is really fucking long, as much as I love it (this doesn't address your point, I know).

this album is nice to put on but i was expecting a few big songs. i don't hear anything as good as "rewind" on here.

i was listening to this the other day while walking to get food, when i got to the place i took my headphones out and ciara "promise" was playing & i thought "damn there should be a song as good as this on here"

"altadena" is really nice tho

I love the idea of an album that builds on the rhythmic inventiveness and warmthness of the OiaM/Empty/Promise continuum! But I don't think this is that album. I love the idea of the concept of this more than the actuality. Where you guys hear "sustained exploration" I hear meandering with texture and mood hiding the lack of big songs. I think you can make something slight and skeletal and it still be a "big song."

I don't mean to invoke Dawn or Kehlani or whoever to say "why can't this album sound like them" because that's not the point, this isn't trying to be grandiose or sisterly. But those artists have albums that wholly succeed in their aims, whereas this struggles to match its intent.

Also, as much as I like a lot of things with production credited to Ariel Rechtshaid, and I love Jam City (a lot), I'm not sure how well it sits with me that the big critical success of contemporary r&b is a Warp-released album exec-produced by two white guys. I'm not in the US but the iTunes Marginalization thread is clear how hard a time ~traditional r&b~ is having. In the UK the situation is grim. If this was a stellar example of genre formalist excellence or astonishing innovation or visionary accomplishment then I could understand. But I don't get any of that from this.

this album is undeniable imo

most of the best songs are in the second half

otm, stretch from "onanon" to the end especially

I liked it a little less than Hallucinogen at first but the more I listen to it the more I admire it. And yeah, those final four tracks are ace.

Holy shite - Kelela's "Frontline" is the best song of 2017 (barely exceeding Nilufer Yanya's "Golden Cage"). Yes, I am heavily influenced by its poignant appearance in that episode of "Insecure" when Issa runs into Lawrence at Derek's birthday party, but I also freaking love how it reminds me of a perfect combination of "The New" from Little Dragon's criminally-underrated album "Machine Dreams" and the understated instrumental interplay (those very patiently-employed bass drum hemiolas) of Aaliyah's how-can-anyone-not-love-this-song "One In A Million"; with the bonus of a subliminal rhythmic awesomeness of "Available Light" from Rush's "Presto". It's difficult for me to type the words that express how thankful I am that this song exists. Damn!

Is anyone else listening to the new mix she made?

https://soundcloud.com/kelelam/aquaphoria

Love it, such a cool approach given the context of the mix (the Warp anniversary)

Also, the beatless electronics + vocals vibe and effects remind me of this record: https://astralplanerecordings.bandcamp.com/

some good turns on the new girl unit album that approximately three people seemed to have cared about

surprised "All The Way Down" doesn't get a mention on this thread, such an amazing song and production
one of those songs I can play for hours (? let's see) on end

just found out that Tinashe co-wrote it (update: as did Jess Glynne!)

also something something janet.

came across this choreography video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qFuRbx29rw
especially feeling the first two dancers

I saw her live in 2017 during her Take Me Apart tour. One of the best shows I've seen in the past decade, visually gorgeous too in all its low-budget simplicity.

i've completely slept on kelela and i see there's a huge remix compilation from 2018

It's really good! I'm not much of an R&B guy but I've always got time for more Kelela.

yeah I saw the Take Me Apart tour too. the way she worked with the background singers and lighting was incredible

she's back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A45gzN0cgow

good song, if a little slight?

my take too; more of an intro than a single. dig the hat tho.

another one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhJpOjqho8s

not bad but also expected something a bit bigger considering LSDXOXO produced it

I'm not mad at it but it also sounds like it could be a PinkPantheress track

Not bad.

apparently it leaked a while ago from a very reliable source that the album is titled raven

supposed tracklist:
Washed Away
Raven
Bruises
Contact
On the Run
Missed Call
Sorbet
Closure
Fooley
Let It Go
Holier
Divorce
Happy Ending

the new album is raven, out on feb 10, and the leaked track list was close but not quite correct:

01 Washed Away
02 Happy Ending
03 Let It Go
04 On the Run
05 Missed Call
06 Closure
07 Contact
08 Fooley
09 Holier
10 Raven
11 Bruises
12 Sorbet
13 Divorce
14 Enough for Love
15 Far Away

newest single is "On The Run" and the best yet IMO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=getdc1zzvnc

that one's real nice

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66_JoWwDEJI

my fave of these tracks

v nice

next new one is “Contact”, it’s the first of the new tracks I love outright:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV57nu3Kre4

(someone is making an amapiano remix right now)

damn that's nice

yeah, that's good.

yum!

yeah that's the best so far

starting to really look forward to this album. it’s building up very nicely.

album rules, goes all in on ambience + breakbeats, & appreciate it being a pretty much continuous mix

on first listen all i dislike is the guest verse at the end of closure that's pretty out of place?

why am i the only one who's listened to this so far, it's so good

I’ve definitely listened to it (several times!) but am still trying to work out what to say about it beyond that I think it’s incredible. Just as assured and uncompromising as Take Me Apart, which is one of my favourite records of the last 10-15 years.

The singles make sense because (“Washed Away” aside which was essentially an re-introduction for her) they’re really the only tracks that work in isolation - the rest sort of demands the continuous mix sequencing that’s laid out here

need more time w/ this album for sure but "Bruises" seems like an early standout

On first listen I wish the ambient parts were a bit more engaging/challenging.. but when the beat drops in songs like the title track? Holy shit

I wasn't sold on those electronic tracks initially but I guess there are pleasing Dawn Richard type of dynamics here and I could see it grow on me. I suspect the album is backloaded. I need to relisten to it with headphones.

wondering about going to this, really ned to listen to the album
https://www.bam.org/kelela-res-keiyaa

go see her - she was incredible live the time I saw her in 2017, see the testimonials Extended Mix and I wrote three years upthread

just played the album front to back and absolutely loved it. love how it builds up to “Raven” and “Bruises”, the centerpieces, and then breaks it all down again.
man, if she should come this way again, I’ll be the first to buy my ticket

Alright, I copped

dc show sold out too quick, I didn't get tickets.

feel like I’m close to falling in love with this album

I still have to listen to this! Haven't had the right moment.

it’s definitely an album that demands the moment and mindset to be right. night time pretty much a prerequisite.

finally listening to this and yeah it seems pretty great. it's exactly the kind of album that will really open up for me on headphones with an edible and a run, i'm predicting. has late afternoon / golden hour vibes imo.

Anyone feels like the mood is similar to the SZA album ? Meandering, frail, lonely, vocals going up and down in vast and cold spaces and around skeletal structures. Raven with a consistent soundscape, SOS more sprawling.

A similar sense of desolation

Definitely the best thing she's done, but I'm a complete sucker for jungle breaks.

idk know Take Me Apart had more variety, and the songwriting isn't up to SZA's.

Raven is so, so good

thrilled to be seeing her live again later this year

so good I have to un-hide it: Raven

really digging the *Rave:N, The Remixes* album. so dreamy and cool.

https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b27342be66dc114499902e3a4d15