Katy B - On A Mission (4 April 2011) - hype, anticipation &c

"broken record" and "go away"

"disappear" is an odd case in that it's my favorite both on personal-resonance and musical-quality grounds

on a mission is an album full of highlights, pretty much beginning-to-end.

the breakdown in "i like you" is still immense but man that too-loud snare is going to do my head in forever

WHY IS IT THERE TSS-TSSING AWAY RIGHT IN YOUR EAR THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SONG????

tell you what, this album could really stand to be heard on NOT A FUCKING PRESS STREAM. i want to hear it on headphones and walk around with it

"everything" and "hot like fire" are definitely the standouts

The album is released in less than 2 weeks so you won't have long to wait for a non-press stream.

I've never not liked anything Jacques Greene has done so yeah, "Sapphire Blue" is a standout here.

i like champagne but you don't like the taste / so i drink yours cuz i don't like to waste / i like it ghetto, you like it bougie / but i like it most when it's just you and me

ooh!

quite glad that, a few listens later, the songs do seem to be there, but this album is HORRIBLY sequenced and that doesn't help bring them out at first. all the singles senselessly shoved upfront ("aaliyah" needs to be DEEP in any track list, "5 am" and "crying for no reason" are both total home stretch songs), a bunch of pensive, low-key tracks making the album sag around two-thirds in, completely baffling decisions re: relegating some of the liveliest and most striking songs to bonus tracks (these are the ones that could do with being upfront).

otoh, "crying for no reason" hit home in a big way today

no Zinc or Magnetic Men kru? Is "Hot Like Fire" a cover?

no and no

a few other producers scattered throughout but mostly they tailor themselves to the Katy & Geeneus show

You know, I was struggling a few months ago, to come up with a list of artists I would automatically buy their new album without hearing a stream first (there were literally two artists on it, and one is now dead and the other has put out an album so bad that I have to rethink that free pass) but I have just realised: Katy B is totally one of those artists.

But yeah, I will take note of the "poorly sequenced" criticism and probably listen to it on random when I buy it.

You can supposedly stream the whole album on itunes, she tweeted a link, but doesn't work for me.

The trouble is the mid tempo, middling stuff like "Sapphire Blue" and perfunctory dance stuff like "Play."

"Sapphire Blue" is great, you bastard

aaliyah pleez

"Everything" is like, one bell sample away from being produced by Pantha Du Prince

"tumbling down" is where my interest starts to wander, never seem to particularly notice "play" either

"sapphire blue" seems only alright until the amazing "no more walls / no more doors / no more windows / no more floors / no more space / no more time / just your skin / touching mine" climax which slayyyyys

"everything" made me wonder what katy b would sound like produced by maya jane coles, and only partly because mjc also has a song of that title

Sampha kindaaaaa sounds like R. Kelly on his track.

well, one per cent of r kelly, anyway

the thought process behind relegating "blue eyes" and "hot like fire" to bonus tracks while keeping "tumbling down" and "play" and "still" for the main album...completely inexplicable

"still" could've been cut... i like "tumbling down" a lot tho

the graham norton performance of "crying for no reason" is pretty stunning

"tumbling down" is where my interest starts to wander, never seem to particularly notice "play" either

but "everything" and "emotions" are the best songs!

I stop the album after "Emotions" tbh.

and no way is this album the equal of On a Mission.

I stop the album after "Emotions" tbh.

― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 6, 2014 7:20 PM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark

well it's the second to last song, that's not that crazy

this definitely doesn't have, like, the energy that "on a mission" had simply by existing but it's really, really good i think

I want to argue this thing is poorly sequence except I wouldn't know where to start resequencing. It's hard to evaluate a release as an album when a considerable portion has leaked in advance; cobbling it together again affects my thinking of it as a whole, if that makes sense. "Still," "Play," and "Sapphire Blue" sound like curate's eggs to me.

*poorly sequenced too

Question: which song from the first album has had the most resonance for you guys?

"Power On Me" and "Hard to Get."

but "everything" and "emotions" are the best songs!

oh i love "everything" but i just meant "tumbling down", which seems to last several years, is where the album just loses its momentum and flow completely. i've actually had to make an alternate track listing, i never ever actually do that but it's the only way to salvage these excellent songs

I like the harmonies on "Tumbling Down" -- reminded me of mid eighties Prince.

It's hard to evaluate a release as an album when a considerable portion has leaked in advance

well, released as singles!

um, do you guys...have the bonus tracks? without them i might well be calling this a disappointment. some of the most striking songs there, all really good

ha i don't think i've ever done that

i have no real feel for sequencing

"blue eyes" is really good

wasn't gonna post my alternate track listing til the thing was actually out but here we go

next thing
everything
i like you
blue eyes
sapphire blue
stay down
emotions
aaliyah
hot like fire
all my lovin'
wicked love
crying for no reason
5 am
sky's the limit

tumbling down/play/still can be bonus tracks if they want

oh i talked to her today and at least have an answer as to why "hot like fire" is just a bonus track

she had no excuse for "blue eyes"

please say she made "hot like fire" a bonus track so she can "super bass" it

i'm imagining she's just sent it to t-swift right now while she's in the uk so she can impromptu sing it on the radio

Don't have the bonus tracks, dig the album. Really like 'Play' and 'Tumbling Down' - 'Still' can get the boot though.

i sorta feel like she came for adele's neck with this album and i'm not even mad at her

i don't get that impression at ALL unless anyone focusing on slow songs is automatically pitching themselves against adele? everything about them is wildly different.

the production on this album is still pretty heavily rooted in uk dance, it's still unmistakeably the katy & gee show

i have a suspicion that you wouldn't like "hot like fire" so much if it wasn't named after an aaliyah song, i think that's one of the worst songs

tim jonze a bit harsh today i thought

it has nothing to do with the aaliyah song? i can assure you that aaliyah worship is not exactly a means to win me over. it's one of the most immediate, anyway