Power of consciousness, rejection to be liked by everyone and having an attitude is not something Beyonce Knowles has covered on her Lemonade. Alicia Keys took the same path. The main difference between the two is that Here is less shiny than Lemonade. There is less anger and not as many guest appearances. Although Jack White is nowhere to be found on Here, Alicia managed to put together a nice, fun and cutting album that deconstructs stereotypes of what the typical female album should sound like.
Here is a crossroad for Alicia, as we witness her breaking up with mainstream pop and diving into soul, jazz, rhythm, blues and hip hop. The album includes several skits that leave dubious impression. Nonetheless, this is an intriguing album that showcases a mainstream artist on her investigative journey. She is on a mission to lead an authentic life, even more authentic than 90 percent of indie musicians have.
My favorite is Girl Can’t Be Herself, as it represents a clear and respectful Fuck you to everyone.
In the morning from the minute that I wake up
What If I don’t want to put all that make up
Who says I must conceal what I’m made of
Maybe all this Maybelline is covering my self-esteem
Blues melody is kept raw, which makes the whole message powerful. More Than We Know is also rebellious one. We can do more than we know, there’s more than we know.
Not everything sounds as banal as the previous examples. Illusion Of Bliss reminded me of Sly and The Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Going On. From the lyrical standpoint, Alicia is singing about a junky who fails to rise from the ashes. Alicia’s perspective on this record is clear: dominant nerve spurs her to attain freedom and rejection of everything that is not important. She sees consumerism in the same light as addiction. Maybe she is right – we are all slaves of habits, and habits put us in prison, without us even being aware of that prison.
Bonus tracks are also sweet, with In Common being one of my favorites.
The cover art speaks for itself, showing Alicia without makeup. We got to the point when Alicia is a true rebel, and hipster rockers a la The Strokes are just empty entertainers.
