San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Listen: New music from Vince Staples and more.
NEW ALBUMS
Vince Staples, “Vince Staples” (Blacksmith/Motown): In the hardened world of Los Angeles street hiphop, Staples has established himself as one of the most dynamic MCs to arise from the scene in a decade. Among his lauded first three albums, “Summertime ’06” is a thorough display of diverse sonic lyricism. He also recently appeared on Oakland rapper AllBlack’s track “We Straight,” easily one of the best Bay Area rap cuts of 2021. He appeared on an episode of HBO’s “Insecure” and his romantic flow pierced through his thick skin on “Yo Love” from the soundtrack to the film “Queen & Slim.” Now on his fourth album, produced by frequent collaborator and venerable hiphop beat constructor Kenny Beats, Staples is delving further into his multifaceted artistry with tracks like “Law of Averages,” which could easily be mistaken for a James Blake collaboration.
But this is just the start this year for Staples, who has also promised another album, “Ramona Park Broke My Heart,” in 2021 as well as an eponymous Netflix show.
“I appreciate that my fanbase is willing to go on this ride with me,” he said in a statement. “I’m ready to diversify what we’re doing and see how we affect the world.”
Sun Ra Arkestra, “Lanquidity” (Strut Records): “People are sleeping, and I’m here to wake them up from their slumber,” storied free jazz composerpianist Sun Ra told “Lanquidity” executive producer Tom Buchler following the album’s single overnight recording session in 1978.
The wildly influential Ra is among the most prolific jazz fusionists the world has ever known, with a discography that spans more than 100 fulllength albums recorded before his death in 1993. Now on the stellar reissue of the celestial “Lanquidity,” the album’s five sweeping tracks are presented alongside a crisper and airier alternate mix that was originally only pressed for a oneoff 1978 run.
Vinyl junkies can relish in the harmonious “That’s How I Feel,” where Ra’s shifts from Fender Rhodes to Minimoog to Hammond B3 organ feel more pronounced in the alternate version. Then the interplay of Eddie Gale’s trumpet and Marshall Allen’s oboe flutter like the songs you’d hear in an Egyptian medina.
The haunting backing vocals on the mystical “There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of )” come across like the pilot of a time machine speaking as the journey eases into its conclusion.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Charlotte Day Wilson, “Alpha” (Stone Woman Music): The elegant Canadian vocalist’s first two EPs (2016’s “CDW” and 2018’s “Stone Woman”) are filled with divine and unparalleled neoR&B. “I was trying to tap into my emotions and that I was trying to feel something that I couldn’t when I was writing those songs,” she told The Chronicle back when the latter was released.
Now on her debut fulllength album, the queer singer, multiinstrumentalist and producer further shows how deftly she can channel the feelings that burn inside her. “Take Care of You,” which earned a 2021 Juno Award nomination (Canada’s top music awards) for best traditional R&B/soul recording, is a gorgeously constructed tune that pairs her with another impeccable singer, Syd (of the band the Internet). The expansively arranged choral vocal layers of “If I Could” slot it among the finest tracks Wilson has released, as she sings: “I’d save you, rid you of the curses that made you, give you all the praises then bring you back to shore, and you’d be free once more.”
SONGS OF THE MOMENT
Jennifer Hudson, “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” (Epic): Handpicked by Aretha Franklin to portray her in the upcoming biopic “Respect,” Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson has released the first original song from the film’s soundtrack. Cowritten with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Carole King and produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” is a Wurlitzerdriven number with gospel undertones that lets Hudson flex every bit of her incredible voice.
The soundtrack album, which also features Hudson’s take on 17 of Franklin’s most notable songs, is set for release on Aug. 13 — the same day that “Respect” opens in theaters.
Combo Chimbita, “Mujer Jaguar” (Anti): No piece of music grabbed me this week quite like this new song from
the Colombian electrocumbia quartet. A visceral and passionate track, “Mujer Jaguar” features a psychedelic guitar and bass thump over singer Carolina Oliveros’ bansheelike vocals.
“The roaring is largely a crying out from the soul, a connection to our deep desire to construct a different world,” she said of her pulsing howl in a statement.
The band has been making powerful music that speaks to a global counterculture movement for five years, and it has totally raised the bar with this one. Definitely put the quartet’s Sept. 22 appearance at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop on your calendar.
LOCAL PICK
Gerald V. Casale, “I’m Gonna Pay You Back” (Real Gone Music): You probably know Gerald “Jerry” Casale as the bass player and cofounder of Devo. What you may not know is that he’s a wine enthusiast and purveyor who lives in Napa. Now, he has released the first song recorded with his Devo bandmates in more than a decade, and it has the same unapologetic whimsy that fans came to love from the group.
A marching band snare drum bounces alongside a wicked guitar played by Oingo Boingo’s Steve Bartek and Casale’s gripping monotone vocals as he denounces gaslighting culture. The song appears on both a 7inch metallic gold vinyl single and on the rerelease of Casale’s 2006 solo album “AKA Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers” (often dubbed the “lost” Devo album), as one of the five bonus tracks on the new deluxe version.