Review - Alicia Keys 'The Element Of Freedom'

Album Review By Kosh Mwamuka

Alicia Keys – The Element of Freedom

A – 84%

Alicia Keys has finally found love. The R&B/Soul superstar has often referenced themes of love found, lost, then found again over the last 8 years and 3 albums however, until now, Keys has never been involved in a serious relationship. Today, however, she is smitten with Hip-Hop super-producer Kaseem ‘Swizz Beatz’ Dean (Beyonce – Get Me Bodied; Eve – Tambourine; Jay-Z – On To the Next One) and on Keys’ fourth album this new found love is apparent. On this EP, Keys has expanded her musical palette straying away from her traditional Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin-esque classic soul sound into a more futuristic synth-heavy sound, and the results have not disappointed.

The first single ‘ Doesn’t Mean Anything’ follows Keys’ traditional formula, acoustic piano and simple kick-snare-tambourine pattern along with a big sounding melodic chorus, and was lapped up by critics (as most Alicia Keys songs are). She collaborated with her usual ‘partner in crime’ Kerry ‘Krucial’ Brothers who helped pen previous hits ‘Superwoman’, ‘Karma’ and worldwide hit ‘No One’, so it was somewhat surprising that this song is Keys’ lowest charting single to date. This may be down to her heavily-processed vocals which partly remove the natural quality of Keys’ previous hits. However, despite this disappointment, the second single ‘Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart’ is incredible. So incredible, actually, I have even heard grown men singing it on the train (not very well, I must add). But once you hear it you won’t be surprised, this song is a collage of innovative, ground-breaking music past and present. The track opens with a cinematic synthesizer that sounds straight out of a Star Wars movie. Love interest Swizz Beatz’ influence is evident in a programmed drum & percussion pattern reminiscent of the old Run DMC, Public Enemy beats that Keys no doubt was exposed to growing up in the infamous ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ area of New York. An organ opens the first verse and continues throughout the verse in a chord progression that is easily the best we have heard in popular music since Ryan Tedder’s (OneRepublic) piano in Beyonce’s ‘Halo’. 808 & Heartbreak co-producer Jeff Bhasker then brings the same avant-garde creativity that made Kanye West’s album the masterpiece it was with an a 80’s synth that would shoot a plane out of the sky as Keys bellows “Tonight, i’m gonna find a way to make it, without you.” All these wide-ranging influences make this song an instant classic and it only gets better with every listen. The only thing missing is a Purple Rain-esque guitar solo, however (somewhat fittingly), Keys closes with a piano-vocal solo that not only shows off her finger-dexterity but also her vocal range.

Other gems off the album include another Swizz Beatz, Jeff Bhasker and Keys collaboration ‘Wait Til You See My Smile’ which is in a similar vein to ‘Sleeping with a Broken Heart’, synth-heavy with a booming drum pattern that comes in at the beginning of the second verse, and closes with Swizzy at his best with an incredible snare-tom-cymbal sequence. ‘Un-Thinkable’ is an epic ballad based on a man and woman’s first time getting intimate with backing vocals provided by 2009’s most promising act Drake. ‘Put it in a Love Song’ features the world’s biggest star Beyonce and opens more like a Beyonce-Swizz Beatz collaboration off 2007’s B’Day rather than a Keys song. However, the trademark Keys piano comes in and makes the song undeniably hers. Possibly a future hit, it has all the right ingredients. Darker themes are touched-upon in ‘Love Is Blind’, an ode to 1980’s Sade, a song in which Keys sings, over widely panned instrumental loops reminiscent of The Beatles albums when stereo mixing first began, “All of my friends think i’m crazy, but I don’t care. I’m over the edge, no turning back. Belong to you I swear.” On ‘Love is my Disease’, Keys again touches-upon the lack of control one feels when in love over a Caribbean sounding track. The remaining songs also reference love but in a more positive light, and it must be said, this album has no weak songs, they all carry a message described well due to great writing and production. However, not all the bases were covered, the natural soul feel of early Kanye West produced hit ‘You Don’t Know My Name’ is missing and it shows. Keys ultimately closes the album with her solo version of the Blueprint 3 hit ‘Empire State of Mind’. Fittingly it is Keys, with her loyal companion (her piano of course), proudly singing over light percussion about the city that made her who she is. In a contemporary music industry flooded with bubble gum songs that are instantly forgettable, there is atleast a few artists we can still bet the mortgage on to deliver fantastic albums. Keys is one of them. ‘Empire State of Mind (Part 2)’ ultimately builds into a triumphant harmony-filled, live drum, string and bass ending...

Let’s hear it for New York.