Alicia Keys’ latest offers messages of love, positivity
The Grammy winner’s “Alicia,” was delayed by the pandemic but is worth the wait.
The long wait for Alicia Keys’ new album is over.
Delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, “Alicia” dropped Friday– six months later than expected. It’s the singer’s seventh studio album and her latest since 2016’s “Here.”
On “Alicia,” Keys, 39, brightens spirits by serving up a host of positive songs with messages of love, support and acceptance. On “So Done,” a collaboration with Khalid, she offers a path forward after despair, using her silky, soulful voice to sing: “I’m living the way that I want // ‘Cause I’m so, so done // Fighting myself // Going through hell // I’m living the way that I want // I’m living the way that I want.”
When the song dropped in August,
Keys said on Instagram “This song is about being done with changing yourself for the sake of others and letting go of any one else’s ideas of how your life should look.”
Advice and affirmations pervade. “Once you free your mind // There is beauty in everything,” she insists in “Time Machine.” In “Wasted Energy,” Keys stands up for herself, chiding a selfish lover: “Too many times you turn a blind eye to the way I feel.”
Love is a common theme, with three songs including “Love” in the title. In “Show Me Love,” a collaboration with Miguel, she tells her man, “This is not the season for nobody else but us.”
Several songs take on new meaning when you listen to them within the scope of the pandemic and social strife plaguing the country. In “Underdog,” Keys assures underdogs “One day you will rise up.” And “Authors of Forever” offers an optimistic look at a time of unity: “We embrace the space between us // It’s alright // We’re all in this boat together // And we’re sailing toward the future.”
Keys recorded “Good Job” during the pandemic and added it to the album. In it, she tells front-line workers, “Don’t get too down // The world needs you now // Know that you matter.”
On Friday, when the album dropped, Keys gave a free virtual performance as part of the American Express Unstaged concert series.
While promoting her album in an interview with Stereogum published Friday, Keys revealed that she almost gave her iconic song “If I Ain’t Got You” to Christina Aguilera.
Keys said Aguilera reached out asking if she could write a song for her.
“So time passed and I hadn’t written the song yet. And (the label) was like, ‘Do you have anything for Christina?’ I remember I had just recently written ‘If I Ain’t Got You,’” Keys told the outlet.
She said her label shut the idea down real quick.
“He said, ‘Are you (expletive) crazy? We’re not giving her that song. Are you out your mind?” I was like, ‘Why not? I’ll write a hundred more of those, it’s fine. I think she should hear it. I don’t really think it’s a big deal,’” Keys said. “But I thought, ‘Fine, I’ll go write another song.’”
That other song ended up being “Impossible.”
Keys is set to tour again in 2021, hitting spots she had initially planned to play in 2020 prior to COVID-19 shutdowns.
It’s been a busy year for the Grammywinning singer. In addition to the new album, her memoir “More Myself” hit bookstores in March. The book details her winding journey through the music industry, her relationships and eventual marriage to Swizz Beatz and the process of finding herself.