Kelela - Cut 4 Me

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