For all the heads who embraced the cool, blast-from-the-past aesthetic of Alicia Keys when she dropped Songs in A Minor back in 2001: you ain't heard nothing yet. On her forthcoming, as-yet untitled sophomore release — set for December — Alicia Keys promises to delve even deeper into her classic soul sensibilities, and with even more confidence and maturity. And that’s all based on three songs previewed by VIBE Online on Friday (Sept. 19).

The smooth "You Don't Know My Name" finds Keys imagining a budding romance with a man she's only seen but never approached. The lush, layered backing vocals, from a mixed-gender ensemble, on this track ride atop absolutely vintage instrumentation from a full band. It's this production quality that immediately distinguishes the new material from her debut, whose sample-driven beats have given way to something much more organic. You’re engaged in the romance immediately as a spoken-word telephone conversation between Keys — who describes herself as the waitress with braids from the diner at 39th and Lenox — and her potential lover takes place.

While listening to "You Don't Know My Name," one can't help but recall Gladys Knight and her brave yet silky cuts of the early- to mid-70s. So when the second track turns out to be a cover of Gladys' classic, "If I Were Your Woman," the homage continues. Kicking off with a tweaky sample of the original's signature hook, the track finds Keys showing off some welcome development in her voice; she's always been superbly emotive in her delivery, but there's newfound wisdom and a worn-in quality about her vocals this time around. G-Unit's Lloyd Banks guests with a little flow towards the end.

"If I Ain't Got You" opens with Keys tickling keys (pun intended), the only time in these three tracks where the piano prodigy's skills are spotlighted. While retaining the live-band sound of the other two cuts, this one's a bit more stripped down, allowing Keys' pipes to do their thing alongside even more soothing backup vocals and subtle hints of brassy horns.

If these three cuts are any indication, Alicia Keys is sticking to her roots and then some. When other contemporaries work songs around the latest bit of slang or the hot producers of the moment, Keys appears to put musicianship first, from the superb, big-sounding orchestration to the classy, timeless vocal arrangements. The full album will be ready for Christmas, but these three samples will test our patience.
[This message was edited Sun Sep 21 11:19:13 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]
[This message was edited Sun Sep 21 12:05:16 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]

great cover. it seems she got herself a decent stylist at last - the outfit on the last one was not good at all! the song with rakim and nas sucks very badly - fingers crossed the album is better.

well, my opinion is: HER LAST ALBUM SUCKED!!! i saved some money on dat' one, and yeah, i quess its a "cute" picture of her...but does it have any gutts???
comon' dang!!!

silverjean said:

Have any guts? What the hell does that mean?