SOLANGE KNOWLES, omg the return of

the "i decided" video is like tailor-made for me and my interests/preferred aesthetic. i have to turn the tv up all the way when it comes on.

this year is shaping up to be pretty amazing... new amerykah, janelle monae, solange, jazmine sullivan, etc.

Select members of the press and other industry VIPs gathered at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood to hear Solange Knowles’ sophomore album SoL-AngeL and The Hadley St. Dreams. Solange’s father/manager Mathew Knowles previewed 14 tracks off the singer/songwriter’s LP, which he says is 95% final. The soul/pop album combines elements of Motown with electronic music, channeling Amy Winehouse, Gnarls Barkley, and even Björk.

The 21-year-old worked with producers such as The Neptunes, Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen), Jack Splash (Alicia Keys, John Legend), and Gnarls’ Cee-Lo Green. Guests include Lil Wayne, Q-Tip, Bilal, and Floetry’s Marsha Ambrosia. Mr. Knowles revealed that a Duffy collaboration with Raphael Saadiq is in the works and that Estelle demoed a song for the album, but it didn’t make it.

While the music is very different from anything out of the Destiny’s Child camp, Knowles is “hopeful that this can become mainstream,” yet admits that it’s going to be “hard work.” Geffen and Music World are aiming at the “intellectual, backpacking, coffee shop, digital kid.” Where Beyoncé wants her vocals perfect, Solange wants them raw. As fans will hear on August 26th, Beyoncé’s lil’ sis is in a league of her own.

1. “God Given Name”
Produced by Soulshock & Karlin
Solange and Beyoncé’s favorite song on the album. On the melodic track, Solange sings: “I’m not becoming expectations, I’m not her and never will be.”

2. “6 O’Clock Blues”
Produced by Mark Ronson
This throwback has a ’60’s groove. The uplifting track features drums and recalls Amy Winehouse. Solange sings about being happy as long as she has her man. “If my house falls down in the river, as long as we got each other, we can overcome the madness of the world.”

3. “I Decided (Part I)”
Produced by The Neptunes
The first single with a killer video directed by Melina. Part I of the song was directed by The Neptunes and co-written by Cee-Lo. Part II is the Freemasons remix released in the U.K. There is a video for that too which is similar to the Part I video.

4. “Sandcastle Disco” featuring Q-Tip
Produced by Soulshock & Karlin
The second single off the album, which will feature Q-Tip. A video will be shot within the next month. Cee-Lo co-wrote the song with Solange. Upbeat, summertime jam: “I’m a cool ol’ Jane with a skip on my feet, I play tough as nails with my heart on my sleeve, I’m nothing but a sandcastle, baby don’t blow me away.”

5. “T.O.N.Y.”
Produced by Jack Splash
Stands for “The Other Night Why (Did I Do That?)” Possible third single co-written by Cee-Lo. Uptempo song reminiscent of The Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around” with a guitar riff. Solange hopes it will be an anthem for ladies who made the mistake of sleeping with a guy too soon in the relationship. “T.O.N.Y. don’t call me no more, no not at all no more, I’m not in a rush to feel rejected.”

6. “I Told You So”
Produced by Shea Taylor
Soulful number where Solange sings, “And so I’m writing this song for the day I see I’m right, I’ll play this record, while I cry and I say, I told you so.” Sounds like a song you might hear on a Beyoncé album.

7. “IWouldveBeenthe1″
Produced by Jack Splash
This was not played at the listening.

8. “An Ode to Marvin”
Produced by Jack Splash
Goes back to the Motown era, similar to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Mathew Knowles told a story of how he would sing Smokey Robinson’s “Here I Go Again” when Tina Knowles was pregnant with Beyoncé and Solange. “They get their perfect pitch from their father,” he joked. The song opens with, “This song is for my people, I wanna know where we going, cuz I’m right beside you.”

9. “ShampagneChroniKnightCap” featuring Lil Wayne
Produced by Bama Boyz
The hard-knocking, psychedelic track has a trippy effect. It’s one of Mathew’s favorites and features a rap from Wayne that’s just as weird as the song itself.

10. “Valentine’s Day”
Produced by Bama Boyz
The only ballad on the album, but it still manages to be upbeat. Solange sings about how she met her boyfriend and hoped the relationship would last until Valentine’s Day. “You know what kind of gifts I give my baby,” Solange sang before Mathew cut off the track. “Daddy can’t play the rest of that,” he laughed.

11. “Cosmic Journey” featuring Bilal
Produced by Soulshock & Karlin
This song sounds just like its title. It features breathy, echoey vocals and gives off an outer space vibe. Bilal sings, “Far into the night you and I don’t look back and you’ll find me.” Halfway through the song it gets faster like a spaceship taking off, turning into trance, techno, house music. Solange ends with “I want to go high, so high.”

12. “This Bird”
Samples Boards of Canada’s “Slow This Bird Down”
The futuristic, electronic track has a pulsing groove. Toward the end, it almost sounds like a country song. “I’m not going to slow this bird down, I don’t wanna look life in the eye.” Solange closes with a high note.

13. “White Picket Dreams”
Produced by Shea Taylor
Mathew says Solange is trying to “build her own identity” in a successful family and that’s what this song is about. “It’s possible we all want a dream that’s so far away and my white picket dreams are home enough,” she sings.

14. “Wanna Go Back” featuring Marsha Ambrosia and Q-Tip
Produced by Brian “Allday” Miller
Marsha of Floetry sings background vocals and Q-Tip raps: “We’re not far away, we right here.” The Big Band cut features live instruments and has a jazz sound. It’s Mathew’s favorite song musically. “Beautiful journey, how long will it last, yesterday’s calling, calling from the past, just can’t stay away too close, yesterday’s gone,” Solange sings. A beautiful journey indeed.

oh shit

fuck you ILM for making me want to hear a Solange album

hmmmm, maybe I will check this out

haha dp

1. “God Given Name”
Produced by Soulshock & Karlin
Solange and Beyoncé’s favorite song on the album. On the melodic track, Solange sings: “I’m not becoming expectations, I’m not her and never will be.” LOL at this. white Beyonce is so full of shit.
Does this make Solange the black Beyonce now? I'm actually looking forward to this. I've only heard Sandcastle but its really hype.

freemasons remix of 'i decided' is so so good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iblsi-himM&feature=related
Here's the vid? Too retro? I think its quite cute...

freemasons remix of 'i decided' is so so good

NAH-UH

fits og w/ lead boots, surgically removes nimbleness & fun. not good. for popjustice type gayers only.

i don't want q-tip on lovely lovely 'sandcastle disco' but other than that, hoo boy ANTICIPATING THIS.

wtf @ changed spelling of 'champagnechronicnightcap'

hmmm i wanna hear this now.

Part II is the Freemasons remix released in the U.K

NOOOOOOO

i was actually emailing her pr dude really pointedly the other day about how i loved the ORIGINAL 'i decided' but that the rmx was lame. BOO to this country's shitty taste in music

solange was the black beyonce all along....

isn't removing the nimbleness and turning it into a stomping house anthem what the freemasons are all about

hey lex, do the pr emails ever work?

well they often get me CDs and interviews but not so much a say in what singles get released

isn't removing the nimbleness and turning it into a stomping house anthem what the freemasons are all about

yeah but they forgot the "stomping house anthem" bit here, it's just clunky glommed-on glam. plus their best remixes have been of songs which weren't exactly subtle to start with so it was just kind of shifting the scenery. cuz beyonce and kelly were hollering already, yeah? so they hold their own. idk when i hear the og 'i decided' i can imagine solange prancing delightfully around in a great gatsby jazz era dress and flapper hair, and the freemasons just go stomp stomp stomp all over her.

yeah cute video

For a moment, I thought this was a thread about Sonny Knowles.

can i just say, in my absence, that i do not approve of how this project turned out one bit. might i also take the time to add that lex is doing some sterling weasling here wrt splitting hairs between "popjustice type gayers" and "great gatsby jazz era dress and flapper hair" prohibition party media tit gayers - they are the same twee indie fuxx, equally likely to drop the same noxious "solange > beyonce" clangers, the one subtle distinction being that i have a shameless predeliction for banging chicks of the latter grouping. ahem.

no doubt lex will at the same time maintain that your sundry adeles and duffys and cilmis are the very bane of modernity, as if they were any different to this conceited guff.

you and your endless hateration have been sorely missed. (seriously).

are you on a break from ilx or something

actually i will exempt duffy from that cos her song has a rap remix featuring the game and it is truly hilare.

(no belloc, solange fans)

yeah man i mean, i was literally drowing in haterade there for a while so i did think to step away. but fuck it, what's half past midnight for right?

"seriously"

oh yeah i did also want to say that that freemasons mix is cool. don't really see how you can charge them with ruining it when if anything they've cleaved closer to what the song is about, the doubt, the drama, the joy, the sawdust, the oranges, the whatfuckever dahling. the only nimbleness i can hear going on in the original has nothing to do with the lyrical content and everything to do with pharrell's little tapdancing feet and the weak nostalgia they bring - just look at that sodding video.

sorry if i have affronted yall's intellectual backpacking coffee shop digital kid sensibilites tho

Lex is wrong about the Freemasons remix.

That track-by-track breakdown reads like the last Kelis album a bit.

If only Kelis had thought to release such a track-by-track where she suckered in indie fuxx like us with promises of nu-jazz and Cee-Lo and Spanish marching band interludes.

freemason's mix is more than cool its as cooold as aiiice

rtc #1 r&b thug

woah didn't hear "I Decided" until now

A+ much more impressive than "Sandcastle Disco"

freemasons remix of yonces deja vu was better than the original. would have been better if they cut jay-z's rap out of it but hey.

If only Kelis had thought to release such a track-by-track where she suckered in indie fuxx like us with promises of nu-jazz and Cee-Lo and Spanish marching band interludes.

-- Tim F, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 07:14 (6 days ago) Bookmark Link

ha. yeah, i would have enjoyed it had this possible album (champagne/whitepicket) had been like that possible album (tilthewheelsfalloff/80sjoint/circus).

sorry if i have affronted yall's intellectual backpacking coffee shop digital kid sensibilites tho
Lol
Heeeey, I still like Kelis (and Solange), Solange is no where near as on point as Kelis can be, she may be wafting strange new sounds at us but lets not get too hasty and shove Kelis aside. I'm sure she's got something happening soon.

The only songs I've heard from this are Sandcastle Disco and I Decided (Part 2) and they are both my jamz!! When is the album coming out?

man, finally heard that "I Decided" song...it's seriously like y'all are searching out the weakest possible shit to rep for.

check the freemasons rmx

http://www.plong.com/MusicCatalog/B/Brooke%20Valentine%20-%20Chain%20Letter/Brooke%20Valentine%20-%20Chain%20Letter.jpg part 2

possibly, but this stuff doesn't strike me as nearly as chintzy as BV

in terms of crit reception, prob otm

yeah ive never heard a brooke valentine song so that's what i meant

actually ive heard girl fight

if youdon't like it fine but it's not like there aren't tons of people who do

what's so "weak" about it?

also I don't think the brooke valentine comparison is apt because that was just a bunch of critics, tons of people I know IRL are actually feeling solange's new shit.

same thing that's weak about 90% of Pharrell productions over the past 6 years, also tryhard vocals and anemic melody. Freemasons remix puts a decent little bit of polish on that turd, but not much.

xpost

really it's the same kind of forced sass as "Work It Out," the failure of which at least kept Beyonce away from the Neptunes for a few years.

I don't think it has much in common with "Work It Out". "Work It Out" is going for that FONK, in your face dirtiness and attitude (and I agree that it;s kind of a failure on that front), whereas "I Decided" is laid back, jazzy, sweet.. doesn't come off as forced to me at all. It'll probably grow on you I bet.

"work it out" = marva whitney/ tina turner

"i decided" = martha reeves

These tracks are built on cool grooves, but they feel static and repetitious in a way that def. does not jibe with my taste.

seems like repetition was a part of what she was going for

see bithfrk interview Steve riech etc

I’m sure it was, it’s just Not For Me

I tried to listen to this this morning but turned it off after a couple tracks to listen to Ghost

I couldn't even finish this tbh, it just felt so inconsequential, and her voice which I normally think is the best part of her music didn't seem to be doing anything dynamic or interesting. It's a nice enough vibe I guess but simply turning up and being Solange really isn't enough

uh oh I am starting to really enjoy this

my fav thing about seat was the piano/keys, so jazzy and plinky and not the usual neo-soul deep chords. my least fav was all the talking. haven’t listened to the new one yet but im hoping for more of the same keys and less talking

you got it

this album reminds me of the last thundercat album

thought the last thundercat album was dogshit

but pretty sure i like this

ya this is dope, i think i like it just as much if not more than a seat at the table

brad otm on both counts

i don’t hear hookless art installation at all, just sounds like a good r&b album

"sound of rain" fucking floors me every time. i segued it out of "sweet thing (reprise)" on my radio show yesterday and man o man

rappers turned out fun laconic verses for this

I miss when she made songs like “sandcastle disco”

I like this, but it seems very evanescent on the first several listens

maybe I will love it in a few years

why did she reissue sol-angel a few years ago without "sandcastle disco"?

On Sept 16th and 17th Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and visual artist Solange Knowles presented Witness!, an original performance piece featuring new musical works composed, directed and choreographed by Solange Knowles at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg in Germany accompanied by a 38 piece orchestra and dance ensemble. With support from Dropbox, the performances were presented by the artist within the architectural marvel that is Elbphilharmonie's world-class concert hall, one of the most acoustically advanced in the world.

“Performing at the Elbphilharmonie was a very gracious and special moment I’ll hold close forever. To hear and see these compositions and choreography come to life on that scale, and with such a divine ensemble will be such a lasting memory to carry on.” - Solange

The performance piece debuted 6 new musical works composed by the artist featuring an ensemble of Tubas, Trumpets, Cellist, Violinist, and Percussionist as well as highly featuring new compositions of songs from her ode to Houston, the When I Get Home (2019) album.

https://gal-dem.com/why-solange-matters-book-extract-stephanie-phillips-indie-microaggressions/

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a46683528/solange-knowles-interview-2024/

Interesting Interview and photo spread.