A- Beyonce Beyonce Parkwood/Columbia
Don’t be surprised that a new Beyonce album fell out of the stars without warning.
Be surprised that it’s quirky, candid, weird, raunchy and so many other things that Beyonce has never been. Be surprised that it’s great.
Beyonce is a hard pivot into idiosyncratic R&B that feels as vast and frisky as Prince’s 1987 masterstroke Sign o’ the Times. Checking in at 14 songs - with 17 companion videos, all released on iTunes Dec. 12 - it’s her most compelling album since 2003’s Dangerously in Love.
She goes from control-freaky to freaky-freaky at the speed of R. Kelly’s Maybach. “Rocket” rivals the sex-aphorical wowzas of any Kelly verse, while modernizing the slow drip of a D’Angelo ballad. She’s a bit more blunt with “Blow,” a strutting, moaning disco vamp. Then she teleports into a funkier zone in smart step toward the form-dissolving songcraft of Maxwell, Erykah Badu and Frank Ocean, who proves himself a worthy duet partner on the futuristic doo-wop of “Superstar.” Over the ominous click-clack of“Partition” she raps from the bottom of her gut: “I sneezed on the beat and the beat got sicker.”
Hot tracks: “Rocket,” “No Angel,” “Partition.”- CHRIS RICHARDS, The Washington Post
A Lydia Loveless Boy Crazy Bloodshot
Columbus, Ohio, cowpunk hellcat Lydia Loveless drops this five-song, digital-only EP to whet her fans’ appetites for her next full-length, Somewhere Else, due in February.
She’s leaning more toward jangle-pop here, scrubbing away some of the honky-tonk twang of earlier songs like “Jesus Was a Wino” and “How Many Women” from 2011’s brilliant Indestructible Machine.
But don’t worry, Loveless still pulls no punches when writing about love triangles, busted hearts and young lust. She’s an immensely talented, fearless (and sometimes gleefully potty-mouthed) lyricist, with the towering voice of a bar stool angel, and can twist a phrase or emotion into unexpected directions. On “All I Know,” for instance, she’s lying awake and pining for a forbidden boyfriend so they can, you know, fight. And she later criticizes herself for becoming “boring and dumb” while waiting for this guy she can never have.
By the second track, “All the Time,” she’s breaking off an affair with another already-taken beau, but not before one final romp.
“Lover’s Spat,” with its catchy backing vocals, will have you humming along - and probably even giggling - until you realize it’s about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
The standout title cut, with its rubbery bass line, is a shimmering but muscular track about a summertime crush, out-of-control hormones and having an unapologetic attitude. “I’d give everything up for a night with that,” she sings, and doesn’t give a hoot what anyone thinks.
We can’t wait for the new album. Until then, we’ll wear this EP out, just like we did with Indestructible Machine.
Hot tracks: “Boy Crazy,” “All I Know” - SEAN CLANCY
C Jake Owen Days of Gold RCA
While barroom songs are a cornerstone of sorts for country music, Jake Owen has more to offer than that.
It’s a good thing he does because the tunes that revel in drinking and partying are the weakest part of his new album. “Tall Glass of Something” rhymes cocktails, “1972” does the same with classic rock band names sprinkled throughout. Yawn.
But when he sings a tune like “One Little Kiss (Never Killed Nobody),” the desperation and romantic tension are palpable, the nuance in his voice walks an emotional tightrope that could snap at any moment. He also shines on “Drivin’ All Night.”
When he connects with the right song, Owen soars.
Hot tracks: “One Little Kiss,” “Drivin’ All Night.”- ELLIS WIDNER
A Roberto Fonseca Yo Concord Jazz
Aggressive and muscular, Havana-born jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca’s new release Yo (which means “I” or “me” in Spanish), combines the energy of contemporary electronica with the gentle beauty of acoustic instruments in a colorful musical celebration of Cuba’s African roots.
Recorded over the course of a week in Paris, the focus of the 12 songs and two remixes here is on Fonseca’s forceful piano. He’s talented enough to go it alone, but there’s no harm done in getting support from instrumentation by 15 musicians from Cuba, Africa and the United States that includes percussion, bass, guitar, kora (a 21-string bridge harp used extensively in West Africa), double bass, vocals and spoken words.
The result is a racy, ever-changing rhythmic blend of Latin and American jazz, Afro-pop, hip-hop and soul that will encourage, at the very least, toe-tapping, but is more likely to get you up and rocking around the room.
Hot tracks: “Bibisa,” “Chabani,” “Rachel.” - KAREN MARTIN
Style, Pages 34 on 12/24/2013