A- D'Angelo & The Vanguard
Black Messiah
RCA
D'Angelo's 14-year vanishing act has ended. Black Messiah is a knotty, inward-looking, musicianly album that doesn't leap out of speakers; it oozes and bubbles, waiting for a listener to be drawn in.
From its sound, Black Messiah could have been released at the same time as 2000's Voodoo. Funk, jazz, rock and gospel are deeply entangled, harking back to Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. The layered vocals aren't always easy to decipher. D'Angelo sings about being an ardent lover, a kinky seducer, a soldier, an environmentalist, a humble worshipper and a bitter social observer who observes, in "The Charade," "All we wanted was a chance to talk/'Stead we only got outlined in chalk."
"Really Love" entwines flamenco, swing, hip-hop and a responsive string arrangement behind its declaration of affection. "1000 Deaths" places bluesy guitar and a cackling clarinet amid a distorted barrage of drums, while "The Door" goes rural with slide guitar, tambourine and a lot of whistling.
In the jazzy "Back to the Future, Part I" he sings: "I been wondering if I ever can again/So if you're wondering about the shape I'm in/I hope it ain't my abdomen that you're referring to." D'Angelo always put being a musician before being a star. With all its glorious eccentricities, Black Messiah affirms that with those priorities, he was right all along.
Hot tracks: "The Charade," "Really Love," "Back to the Future, Part I."
-- JON PARELES,
The New York Times
B Nicki Minaj
The Pinkprint
Young Money/Cash Money/Republic
Nicki Minaj channels her emotions into as many slow-rolling explorations of love and regret as boasts about prowess, bank balance and flow.
She does so with help from collaborators including Drake, Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Chris Brown. Producers such as Mike Will Made It, Dr. Luke and Alex Da Kid prove their status. The most innovative track, "Four Door Aventador," glistens with the work of British beat-maker Parker Ighile.
Minaj sounds equal parts wounded ("All Things Go," the rap track "The Crying Game") and relieved over the end of a once-overpowering affair. Elsewhere, she's a creative and sexual powerhouse. "Trini Dem Girls," a strange blend of reggaeton and hip-hop, is memorable with a breakout hook from singer Lunchmoney Lewis.
On her duet with Grande, "Get on Your Knees," Minaj is a hardened lover uninterested in emotion or anything other than pure submission. On the set's high point, "Feeling Myself," Minaj and Beyonce collaborate on a self-love anthem that overflows with sexual, feminist and lyrical power.
The Pinkprint lags near the end. The pop-rap "Bed of Lies" has a silly cliche as the focus. The weepy "Grand Piano" strives to be the epic bookend, but sounds like a subpar Celine Dion tune.
Hot tracks: "Four Door Aventador," "The Crying Game," "Feeling Myself."
-- RANDALL ROBERTS,
Los Angeles Times
B Charli XCX
Sucker
Atlantic
Charli XCX, the 22-year-old British artist with a penchant for teenage churlishness, throws a smoke grenade of rock-pop digestibles and runs for cover while listeners stumble around intoxicated and confused. She made a name for herself on collaborations such as Icona Pop's "I Love It" and Iggy Azalea's "Fancy."
The single "Boom Clap"-- also on the soundtrack of The Fault in Our Stars -- is an electrifying synth with a punchy hook. The dark sound of "Break the Rules" gives her an edge mitigated by the childish chant "I don't wanna go to school/I just wanna break the rules." The song works as a potent instigator to party.
The title track also is a cheeky invective thrown at boring adults who don't know how to have fun. The sound throughout Sucker borrows riffs from mid-'90s alternative rock bands such as Elastica, especially on tracks "Gold Coins" and "Breaking Up."
This is petulant rock at its best and teenage angst at its worst, with a good measure of talent.
Hot tracks: "Boom Clap," "Break the Rules," "Gold Coins."
-- CRISTINA JALERU,
The Associated Press
B Willie Nelson and Sister Bobbie
December Day: Willie's Stash, Vol. 1
Legacy
Bobbie Nelson has been playing piano in her brother Willie's band for more than 40 years, and they played together in other Texas bands before that. These octogenarian siblings have forged a deep musical connection, and it's put into even sharper relief than usual on December Day.
These 18 new performances are built around the eloquent interplay between Bobbie's piano and Willie's battered acoustic guitar, with the main accompaniment coming from Mickey Raphael's harmonica. If the song choices are familiar -- the bulk comes from the Willie songbook, and he does all the singing -- they exert a new, subtly powerful pull thanks to the Nelsons' beautifully understated treatments.
While the siblings conjure a warmly intimate mood, the hour-long set would have benefited from more variety of tempo. After they open with a jaunty take on Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band," everything unfolds at a slow pace.
Hot tracks: "Alexander's Ragtime Band," Willie's "Permanently Lonely," Django Reinhardt's "Nuages."
-- NICK CHRISTIANO,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Style on 12/23/2014