Jhené Aiko's flair for promoting emotional healing and exuding unfiltered eroticism reaches a new peak on her third album. Recorded mostly in Hawaii with more live instrumentation than her previous sessions,
Chilombo also integrates vibrational sound bowls -- gently ringing frequencies only occasionally as loud as a lightly touched electric piano or kalimba -- for the additional purpose of fostering inner harmony. Healing in this case is sometimes achieved with outbursts. "Get your bitch ass off my phone" stands out from the sonically lullaby-like "None of Your Concern," where
Aiko also wonders if she's being heard and real-life ex
Big Sean responds with a labyrinthine verse of defensive maneuvers and boasts that essentially say "No." In the slinking slow jam "Triggered (Freestyle),"
Aiko winds her neck as she threatens "Might f*ck around, have to pay me in blood," but isn't too proud to conceal her desire for sexual release with the confronted subject. (Not for nothing has
Aiko likened herself to a volcano.) She's never been more seductive than she is in the frothy "Surrender," where the question "I'm a boss bitch, how you don't f*ck with me?" is more like a puzzled act of hypnosis than a display of insecurity. "P*$$Y Fairy (OTW)," one of her better X-rated quiet storm ballads, is as memorable for afterglow proclamations like "Now you feel like you can fly" as it is the title. The writing and recording are perhaps too unprocessed at times. "One-Way St." starts like a sketch for a potentially brilliant nod to Soulquarians-style hip-hop soul and ironically changes direction twice, first for a fine if clashing
Ab-Soul guest verse and again for a stumble down a dark corridor that seems arbitrary. Some of the interludes have more to offer than the full-blown songs -- intermittently a patience-testing aspect across the hour-plus playing time of the standard edition. Still, this is
Aiko's greatest achievement by a significant margin and indicates that even stronger work lies ahead. ~ Andy Kellman