Reyez’s great debut reveals intense star
Nelson offers outtakes
Jessie Reyez,“Before Love Came to Kill Us” (FMLY/Island Records) Jessie Reyez might be petite, but she’s a monster. We didn’t say that. She did, on her official debut album. But she memorably adds a certain expletive before the word “monster”.
Reyez is definitely a monster when it comes to music. The Toronto-bred artist who once handed out mix-tapes for free has created a stunning full-length calling card with “Before Love Came to Kill Us”.
Before the coronavirus disrupted all our lives, Reyez was showing off her music on tour with Billie Eilish and that combo of artistes on the same bill is genius. Reyez is as unique and undeniable as her musical compatriot.
The 14-track “Before Love Came to Kill Us” shows off multiple sides to Reyez, who isn’t easy to categorize. There’s some hip-hop, downer R&B, arena ballads and pop. Whatever it sounds like, it’s intense.
“If I blow your brains out/I can guarantee that you’d forget her/If I blow your brains out/I can kiss it better,” Reyez sings on the first song, “Do You Love Her”, which casually mentions her Beretta.
She lets her fierce flag fly frequently on the album: “You make me wanna jump off the roof,” she sings in one song. “My love is ruthless,” she sings on another. “I ain’t a killa/I’ll let you breathe,” Reyez reassures on a third. She may rely on co-writers, but the lyrics are usually all hers and she shows her passion and her scars.
Reyez can modify her voice to be childlike or whispery and then zoom into pure gangsta menace. On the fantastic “Roof”, she raps with astonishing speed. She can pivot wonderfully from style to style, offering the spare, Spanish guitar-inflected “Intruders” one moment and then sing entirely in Spanish on “La Memoria”.
Not all of it works, including the Eminem collaboration “Coffin” that seems unbalanced. But the other featured artist, 6LACK, does better on the terrific R&B hit “Imported”, in which Reyez’s voice flutters and she cracks herself up.
“Same Side” rather meanders, without the bite of the other songs. And “Dope” simply grates. (Plus “Far Away”, a fantastic immigrant’s love song, is unfortunately not on the main album but on the one exclusive for Target.)
But there’s no denying this rising artiste, who already has a Grammy nomination for her 2018 EP “Being Human in Public”. On the single “Ankles” from the new album, Reyez boasts that no rival can measure up to her ankles. She’s right.
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, “Naked Garden” (Fantasy Records)
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real offer 10 outtakes and five alternative versions of songs that appeared on last year’s “Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)” with their latest album, “Naked Garden”.
It’s not just a record for completists. The alternate versions and outtakes offered here stand on their own merits. But for fans of Nelson, it offers a glimpse into his artistic process.
An acoustic version “Civilized Hell”, slowed down here, packs a different kind of punch than the rockedup version did that was released last year. There’s also another full-band version of the song on “Naked Garden”, for those who just can’t get enough.
One highlight, the previously unreleased “The Way You Say Goodbye”, features Nelson sounding more like Roy Orbison than his dad Willie Nelson. Hearing his take on the country waltz song is worth the price of admission alone.
There’s also some fun banter included in between tracks, making it feel like the listener is there with the band in the studio. Not everything’s perfectly presented here, but that’s by design.
Béla Fleck, “Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions” (Craft Recordings)
Béla Fleck has built his unparalleled career expanding both what it means to be a banjo player and what banjo music can or should be.
That journey took him to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo, a trip documented on a pair of records that are being re-released, along with a third disc of new material, as “Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions”.
The set compiles music first released in 2009 and 2010 and offers a third disc, also being released separately as “The Ripple Effect”, featuring live collaborations with kora player Toumani Diabaté. There is also a DVD of the 2008 documentary about his trip to Africa.
The 10 new songs are a wonderful addition to the music previously released and showcase Fleck’s ability to weave in and out of musical genres, teasing classic American songs like “Oh! Susanna” on “Kauonding Sissoko” while trading licks with Diabaté and offering an unique take on the old favorite “Dueling Banjos”.
Fleck has never shied from genre-bending and bringing the banjo to new audiences. “Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions” shows him at his best.
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