Kelis - Flesh Tone

It has been four years since we last had an album from Kelis, not including the interim greatest hits collection that bombed, and a lot has changed in her life. In this time not only has she become a mother, but she has divorced from rap mogul Nas and a made quick hop over to will.I.am’s record label. For an artist as versatile as Kelis, such a tumultuous period results not in a mere break-up album but a dynamic shift towards a different genre altogether: house.

This choice of genre may not be too calculated but it takes a special sort of solo artist to be able to survey a scene and carve out a nice new niche for themselves. Such a move is one that Kelis has desperately needed as her previous four albums have all resulted in either some form of label acrimony or commercial failure, despite all having received warm critical receptions. With her public profile being almost non-existent, it really was time that Kelis revealed the ace tucked up her sleeve.

With Flesh Tone she has not only made one of the best albums of her career (with Tasty still standing as her best) but she has been able to emerge with an image so unmistakably fresh and cool that she cannot help but stand out from the crowd. Some degree of success was already assured with the release of the lead single ‘Acapella’, a sure fire hit being touted as one of the best pop songs of the year. In this she is able to create a song about the joys of motherhood that is incredibly feel good but never delves into being too sickly. Her vocals are delivered in such a soulful deadpan, emulating the once great Donna Summer, and the lyrics are ambiguous enough that those unaware of her new son will imagine it to be a very well executed pop-house love song.

Weaved between the songs that focus on the new love in her life (‘4th Of July’, ‘Acapella’ and ‘Song for the Baby’) are those which directly resulted from her break-up. However, whilst many great artists would create songs of heartbreak where you can hear the pouting in their vocal delivery (such as many tracks on Pink’s album Funhouse) Kelis takes the alternate route with her establishing her new found independence with anthemic relish ( ‘Emancipate’ and ‘Brave’). Also present is ‘Scream’, a song where there is such a presence whereby she is able to get the listener to somehow carry out her will; as such the remixes of this are sure to hit the club scene this summer.

As albums go, Flesh Tone has all the ingredients of an outstanding misstep; a traditionally R&B artist making a move to dance music should be an unmitigated disaster. Kelis, however, is one of music’s underrated geniuses and if she couldn’t make this work then there is probably only a handful that could (and they don’t have the nerve to even attempt this). What aids her musical genius is her remarkable ability to remain cool throughout an entire album and maintain an identity which is not diluted by the anonymity of dance music.

Yes, it is true that this is something that we have most likely heard before in a different guise, but when executed with such conviction and backed up with some amazing beats it does not matter one iota to be groundbreaking when you can be having this much fun.

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