RIYL: Aretha Franklin, Christina Aguilera, Sly & the Family Stone
British soul singer Joss Stone’s fourth album finds her mining some familiar territory, but also stepping out with a variety of collaborations that touch on fresh ground. Opening track and lead single “Free Me” sets the tone with a feel-good, funky soul rock number that Stone does as well as anyone these days. Later tracks like “Incredible” and “You Got the Love” also mine upbeat funky grooves where Stone’s dynamic voice really shines. The sounds of the early ’70s are well represented on R&B lament “Could Have Been You” and “Parallel Lines,” which opens with some electric piano funk that recalls Stevie Wonder’s classic “Superstition.” No less than Jeff Beck adds tasty guitar fills while Sheila E. provides the backing vocals for one of the album’s best tracks.
“4 and 20” is a playful ballad not about the sweet leaf, but Stone’s desire for a man to prove his love 24 hours a day. Raphael Saadiq chips in vocals on “Big Ole Game,” a funky mid-tempo tune with a sexy vibe, while hip-hop ace Nas helps Stone out on “Governmentalist,” a socially conscious number with a dirty blues-funk sound that would fit right in on the “Dead Presidents” soundtrack. “Trying to find the truth behind the lies,” sings Stone, before Nas comes in to talk smack about cops, the FDA and others who try to keep the people down – “Governmentalists killed the Kennedies, I heard that Joss Stone got the remedy,” raps Nas. David Sanborn contributes some big sax lines to the old school Bo Diddley-type blues of “I Believe It to My Soul,” and Jamie Hartman trades vocals with Stone on moody ballad “Stalemate.”
Colour Me Free finds Stone, still just 22 years old, continuing to expand her sonic palette in a world that would seem to be her oyster. The fact that she’s also willing to take a deeper look at that world on a tune like “Governmentalist” shows that she’s got a lot more happening upstairs than most of her pop contemporaries as well. (EMI 2009)
