“Keys” universe
Alicia Keys: Jazz, Blues and Soul in a double pack
Alicia Keys walks in different worlds. Photo: Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP / dpa
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Alicia Keys excited the music world for the first time 20 years ago. With her new double album, the soul singer from New York’s working-class district Hell’s Kitchen is now celebrating a kind of homecoming.
Twenty years after her debut, US top star Alicia Keys presents an artistically demanding double album: On “Keys” the singer walks between jazz bar and R&B club, between modern pop and her roots.
If you want to listen to the eighth studio album by the New Yorker, you have to bring a lot of time. It consists of 26 songs – the original versions and the remixes mixed by producer Mike Will Made It, which Keys calls “unlocked” versions. In keeping with this, the musician stands on the cover in an oversized door lock.
«I wanted to know: How does it sound when I put myself in a new musical context? The remixes should exist in a completely separate stratosphere », explained Keys at a presentation to journalists.
Back to the beginnings
The original songs are indeed reminiscent of the early 40s. Her debut album “Songs in A Minor” in 2001 delighted the critics with its mixture of Motown elements and modern R&B. Keys wrote many songs as a teenager. She usually accompanies herself on the piano, which she played at the age of five.
The then 20-year-old was discovered by the legendary record boss Clive Davis – like Whitney Houston or Janis Joplin before. “Songs in A Minor” – including the world hit “Fallin ‘” – brought Keys five Grammys, meanwhile she has 15. With songs like “Girl On Fire”, “Empire State Of Mind” and most recently “Underdog”, the charismatic soul Singer always takes the step into the mainstream.
With their simplicity and elegance, the songs on “Keys” are reminiscent of a smoky piano bar where you can enjoy the evening with a glass of whiskey. “The album is like coming home for me, it brings me back to my beginnings and roots,” says Keys herself about her latest work. “It’s mainly about my relationship with the piano, about great songs with a roughness and emotions. It has a jazzy side and a blues tone – my inspirations. “
The more than six-minute “Is It Insane”, which Keys describes as the “cornerstone of the album”, begins with a whispering “Turn my mic on”, then Keys sings in the style of Ella Fitzgerald, almost exclusively from Piano accompanied.
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Between a bar and an R&B club
In the “Unlocked” version, the lascivious jazz song is underlaid with a subtle R&B beat, which sets the style for the remix part of the album. Keys is thus moving between a bar and an R&B club, in two worlds in which the mother of two undoubtedly feels at home.
The lyrics are based on her previous album “Alicia”, which was released only a year ago. Songs like “Dead End Road” or “Nat King Cole” are characterized by positivism and the encouragement to live independently. The songs are “an invitation to be unrestrained and to celebrate your own greatness,” Keys told Glamor magazine. “Too often we hide emotions that are important to us.”
The US artist lets off steam musically on her new album. She describes the double charge of blues, jazz and soul as “vision” and “art project”. She wants to invite her fans into her “Keys universe”. “It’s elegant, gorgeous and a little exaggerated. It should encourage us all to be our best selves. “