Music Review

Esperanza Spalding's new album dropped last night! And of course I had to purchase immediately. Can I just say that this chick is amazing, and I'm actually really happy she's not mainstream and remained true to herself in this last album. When a jazz artist announces that their next album will be named Radio Music Society, you become a bit concerned as a fan. Favorite artists of yours have gone down that road before and lost you because their true essence was lost in the attempted style change. Not so with Espy, she's got her incredible talent and managed to maintain the original recipe goodness while adding a completely new twist, resulting in the perfect jazz/ blues/ rock/ pop treat.

I particularly fell in love with Cinnamon Tree, Crowned & Kissed (click the picture below for the song stream), and Smile Like That. Of course Black Gold, which was previously released as a single, is also one of my favorites and Let Her has a wonderful beat/ melody and Radio Song is infectious. Land of the Free and Vague Suspicions are extremely political pieces done in a tasteful manner, which was refreshing. When I saw Ms. Spalding perform in LA she played her rendition of MJ's I Can't Help It and had it stuck in my head for an entire week, so I was really happy to see that on the album as well. If I missed a track that's because I can't sort them all out in my head as the album is currently on repeat.

I really can't say enough about this CD, except... O yeah! There's an entire movie included when you purchase the album on iTunes, which is an interesting stringing together of all of the music videos for each song on the album. Though not very cohesive, and a bit artsy-farsty for the average music video viewer, it is very conceptually and visually winsome.

To sum up all of my thoughts about this album:
- There is a song for every emotion you might have about your day/week/year/season in life
- Esperanza injects a new genre into her own style, and does it well
- Instrumentally, every track is very rich and moving
- Excellent use of collaborating talent
- I can't wait to see her in concert sometime in the near future (April 28th anyone??)
- Wonder what she'll do next!

LA Times Review
Chicago Tribune Review
Rolling Stone Review
Go make up your own review and listen to the album