Lizzo is the Special one
She can write, sing, rap — and play classical flute. That’s why, when it comes to music...
LIZZO: Special (Atlantic)
Verdict: The soundtrack to summer ★★★★☆
JACK WHITE: Entering Heaven Alive (Third
Man) Verdict: Rock maverick on a roll ★★★★☆
BACK with her first batch of new songs in three years, singer and rapper Lizzo wastes no time in telling us what she got up to in lockdown. ‘I’ve been home since 2020,’ she declares at the start of her fourth album.
‘ I’ve been twerking and making smoothies.’ As she came to terms with a romance that was turning sour, she also kept herself busy by making music. ‘I keep on writing these songs, ‘cause he keep on doing me wrong,’ she sings, a typical opening gambit from a performer who deals with life’s slings and arrows in resilient fashion.
Special is Lizzo’s first LP since she broke out of the American hip-hop and R&B underground and tasted major-league pop stardom, and it captures her in her element.
When she released her last album, Cuz I Love You, the singer born Melissa Jefferson in Detroit said she wanted to ‘change the world, one song at a time’. She’s since conquered Glastonbury and wooed the BRITs by taking to the stage in a woven bodysuit before flirting playfully with Harry Styles. She describes Special as a ‘badass’ album about love in all its guises — and it’s an enjoyable mix of vintage disco, modern rap and 1980s electronic pop.
With success allowing a more generous budget, it also has a sharp commercial edge, with marquee producers such as Max Martin and Mark Ronson helping out alongside Lizzo’s regular collaborator Ricky Reed.
And the singer’s determination to engage with fans of all ages is enhanced by well-chosen samples. Among the acts referenced are Kool & The Gang and the Beastie Boys. There’s also a jazzy number called Coldplay, which takes the latter’s song Yellow and uses studio trickery to alter the pitch and tempo of Chris Martin’s singing.
But it’s Lizzo’s relatable songwriting that’s at the heart of her appeal. She wrote 170 songs in the pandemic, before whittling it down to a ‘ perfect 12’. The standard is high, but some fans might feel shortchanged that this comeback lasts only 35 minutes.
She deals with heartache by seeking the company of her girl pals. ‘I’m good with my friends, I don’t want a man,’ she sings on 2 B Loved (Am I Ready). Grrrls samples the Beasties’ 1987 single Girls, but ( with the group’s blessing) it upends the infantile chauvinism of the original by using it as the basis of a feminist call to arms. The song did, however, cause a furore, with Lizzo (carelessly rather than maliciously) using a slur derogatory to the disabled. Wisely, she’s since apologised and changed the offensive line.
There’s also a lot of stuff about loving and respecting yourself. You might think the market for empowerment anthems in pop is already crowded, but Lizzo, 34, stamps her irreverent personality on the title track (‘In case nobody told you today… you’re special’). She also addresses the issue of body positivity on Naked, a sultry, bedroom soul ballad in the style of Minnie Riperton and one of the best tracks here: ‘Welcome to my body, I know it’s nice to meet it / Fantasies been written ‘bout the beauty and the sweetness / I’m a big girl, can you take it?’
WHILE she paid her dues in hip-hop, Lizzo is now at home in an array of styles, something she reiterates on the Ronson-produced Break Up Twice, another soul ballad, and the Kool & The Gang-sampling Birthday Girl, which takes her back to her rap roots.
Brevity aside, the only real shortcoming here is that her flute playing isn’t as prominent as it could have been. Lizzo is classically trained and uses her expertise to superb effect on About Damn Time, a Chic-inspired disco romp.
More of her woodwind wizardry could have made this impressive comeback even more special.
■ JACK WHITE continues to enhance his reputation as the most prolific man in music. Having played a surprise set at Glastonbury last month, the singer and guitarist is currently on his Supply Chain Issues tour.
His new album, entering Heaven Alive, is his second in three months, following April’s hard- rocking Fear Of The Dawn — and it’s typically enterprising. This was initially touted as a quieter, acoustic counterpart to Fear Of The Dawn, but the reality is more nuanced.
There are some lovely, folky moments, with ballad All Along The Way harking back to the acoustic numbers from White Blood Cells, the 2001 breakthrough album by Jack’s former band The White Stripes. But White, 47, rarely sticks to one style and this latest escapade is restless to the point of being scattergun. There’s bossa nova on A Madman From Manhattan and a revival of The White Stripes’ sepiatinted blues on I’ve Got You Surrounded (With My Love).
Taking Me Back ( Gently) reinvents a single from Fear Of The Dawn as hot-club jazz.
He reveals more than usual as a lyricist, too. Love Is Selfish — ‘it’s always trying to mess up all my plans’ — could be about the amicable end of his eight-year marriage to British model Karen elson. And there are musings on mortality on the brilliant single If I Die Tomorrow.
Beyond his fondness for oldfashioned sounds — entering Heaven Alive could easily have been produced in the synth-free 1970s — he goes out of his way to show his versatility. That can make his music a bumpy ride, but he remains endlessly resourceful.