It's summer, and your average Beaumont neighborhood isn't hiding their revelry! A weekend residential drive will find grill smoke and soulful tunes in abundance. “The Light Of The Sun” makes for a perfect addition to any summer cookout playlist, especially if it's a more adult affair.
The album opens with “Blessed”, a soulful rhythmic hymn of thanks, and “So In Love”, a rare collaboration with fellow modern soul guardian Anthony Hamilton. The confident and cool opening is slightly marred by tracks 3 and 4. They're both hip-hop influenced and full of experimentation, but the breakdowns on “Shame” are jarring and the sparse background of “All Cried Out” is slightly grating set next to Jill's vocal harmonizing.
Things enter a proper groove with the album's centerpiece “Le BOOM Vent Suite”. A nine minute opus with multiple movements, “BOOM” is a prime example of the narrative spinning, scatting, sugar sweet melody making Scott has perfected. The transition between the piece's first and second halves is some of the finest musicianship in recorded music thus far in 2011. Just like the latter half of “BOOM” mellows into a captivating groove, so does the second half of the album.
There's sensuality in “So Gone (What My Mind Says), which features some of the raunchiest lyrics attached to Jill courtesy of Houston native Paul Wall, and again in “Until Then (I Imagine). The groove comes to a stark and contemplative halt for “Hear My Call”, another hymn that asks for guidance and insight, but it kicks right back in for “Some Other Time”, which combines singing and spoken word to tell the story of the paranoia that can accompany an exciting new relationship.
The proceedings are brought to a close with two pieces of female empowerment. “Womanifesto” is a hard hitting piece of slam poetry set to the backdrop of a simple metronomic hum, while “Rolling Hills” is a tribute to the uniqueness, beauty, and power in the female anatomy.
What more can you ask for? “The Light Of The Sun” is full of masterful lyricism, Jill Scott's versatile and endearing voice, and impeccable production that's overflowing with grooves and soul. Not only is “Light Of The Sun” a perfect addition to Jill Scott's discography, it's also the most soulful album 2011 has seen and the perfect summer soundtrack.
Rating: 9.3/10
Standout Tracks:
"So In Love" "Le BOOM Vent Suite" "So Gone (What My Mind Says) "Hear My Call" "Some Other Time" "Womanifesto"
The Light Of The Sun is available at your favorite online or physical music store now
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