Music
Album Review: Joss Stone - LP1
In 2011, it’s damn near impossible for a new album release to sneak up on me without me having the drop on it. I mean, I live, eat, sleep and breath music and since I was a shorty I always wanted to be the first with everything. Whether it was the newest Jordans or the newest EPMD 12”, I ALWAYS had to be the first one with it. So I was shocked when I found out that one of my favorite singers in the game Joss Stone had a new album dropping called “LP1” and it wasn’t on my radar at all. Joss’ album “Introducing” (with the bulk of it produced by Raphael Saadiq) was a classic in my eyes and I loved what Joss and Saadiq cooked up together but I had no idea if she was still rocking with Saadiq and if not, then who was producing her new album and what it would sound like?
If I HAD to give “LP1” a genre, I would put it somewhere in between alternative and soul but I hate having to put music in a box. To me it’s either dope or it’s not. But there’s no need to worry about “LP1” cause with Dave Stewart (co founder of the Eurythmics) handling the production duties and Joss being Joss, this falls into the dope category. “LP1” sets off with “Newborn” which has Joss schooling us that we should be cherishing each day like a newborn baby and that we need to start looking out for the next person, not just ourselves. “Karma” and “Don’t Start Lying To Me Now” both deal with the hoopla of breaking up while “Landlord” deals with the beginning of new love. “Now that it’s on/my love is so strong/no one can move me/the way that you have/don’t want your rent money baby/under my door/I don’t wanna be your landlord anymore.” “Drive All Night” is a beautiful song that touches on a dude showing Joss attention she’s never been shown before. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before/no one’s ever drove for miles/to make me smile before.” “Cry Myself to Sleep” and the album’s 1st single “Somehow” are both dope and “Boat Yard” and “Take Good Care” fall in line with the rest of the album but the stand out track for me that STAYS on repeat is “Last One To Know.” This song has Joss explaining that she’s fallen in love but she doesn’t wanna be in love and at the end of the day, she’s the last one to realize it. “Left me in the dark/confused because you moved the mark/I don’t know how far you go/is this the start?”
I’m one of the few people who doesn’t mind when an artist decides to move in a different directions with their music, AS LONG AS IT’S DOPE! That’s my ONLY prerequisite, if you’re gonna switch up styles and try something new, it’s all good, just do your thing with it. I once heard Cee Lo say that as an artist ,you do your canvas a disservice if you continue to paint the same picture over and over. And I agree with Cee Lo 100% but that’s the ill thing about Joss, because each time she drops, she does her canvas justice.
4 outta 5
