From Ashes…
This week’s New Music is not only the inaugural edition of New Music on the new site, but a bonus double edition covering the long-awaited return of two underrated, brilliant women. One, an R&B wunderkind whose return we have been impatiently predicting for some time. The other, the once most hated person in pop, back now to kick ass and kill the past.
Raven
Kelela
Alternative R&B
Six years is a long time. It’s doubly-long when you’re trying to follow up one of the hottest, most intelligent, and thought-provoking R&B albums of the new millennium. But D.C. native Kelela Mizanekristos was not to be rushed. She crafted, and curated, and incubated. What emerged, six years later, is nothing short of phenomenal.
Raven sees Kelela continue her use of icy, futuristic beats and production, taking more inspiration from trip-hop and acid house than any standard of the R&B library. The backing loops for “Contact” could just as easily pilot a Fluke single, and following track “Fooley” is ripped straight from some future Massive Attack album not yet realized.
But don’t confuse Kelela’s use of slick production tricks as a mere gimmick to cover inconsistency. Songs like the opener “Washed Away” and title track “Raven” showcase her ability to humanize even the most stark, synthetic of instrumentals with her beautiful voice, which is equal parts flitting and operatic, and sometimes both at once.
Raven is immediately gorgeous, almost breath-taking, and it will surely become a cornerstone of the new alternative R&B movement with the likes of Solange’s A Seat at the Table, SZA’s CTRL, and Frank Ocean’s Blonde.
Let Her Burn
Rebecca Black
Electropop
Rebecca Black is having a real hot girl…winter. Remember “Friday”? She doesn’t. It’s as noncorporeal as the wind, which, once passed, ceases to exist. There is only now. And now there’s matches and gasoline and no time to lose.
Twelve years ago, Rebecca Black released what is almost certainly the most hated song in the history of YouTube, and subsequently, she became the most hated singer in the world. She was 13 years old. Let me repeat that: a 13-year-old was the most hated person in the world because of a song.
But after her age nearly doubled, Rebecca Black has produced her first (yes, you read that right, her FIRST) album, and it is a glorious ode to pop and noise. Taking obvious inspiration from other hyperpop artists like Rina Sawayama or Purity Ring, noise pop acts like Sleigh Bells, and the electro-glitch of Alice Glass, Black creates ten songs that are all in service to the new sound.
The Arca-inspired production leaves the beats and loops in little pieces all over the musical floor, as Black forces you to pick them up for her. My personal favorite track, “Misery Loves Company,” delivers intense, rhythmic flows in a murky low-end while somehow keeping Black’s vocals coherent. Similarly, the early-Gaga-esque “What Am I Gonna Do with You” provides an almost girlish song deliciously paired with ball-busting kick drums and enough guitar layers to make Kevin Shields think “maybe you should tone it down.”
In comparison to the-song-which-shall-no-longer-be-mentioned, Let Her Burn begins this new phase of Rebecca Black’s career with a solid foundation—even if it is on fire—from which she can grow into a truly unique talent. Remember, the best soil is volcanic.
