Going by title and release proximity -- never before had
Alicia Keys released studio albums in consecutive years --
Keys seems set up to be pitched as a sequel to
Alicia. Conversely, it's another ball of wax. Make that conjoined balls of wax. Disc one is essentially a standard
Alicia Keys LP, while the second disc is an album of remixes plus two more new songs. It starts like a mixtape with
Keys' anticipatory piano trailed by the stern voice of
Pusha T and an equally menacing beat recycling the one from
Beanie Sigel's "The Truth" (with that charged
Graham Nash organ).
Keys testifies her faith and gives thanks, and through the rest of the first set sings to a lover in varying states of their relationship, often with words of devotion and pleas to make it through the not-so-good times. The songs are more likely to evoke a feeling than have a clear meaning; to wit, "Somebody never told me there's a last time for everything/Even a landslide is an opening/Turning metal into gold" requires some interpretive skill to comprehend what
Keys is putting across. The originals peak with "Best of Me," a crisp and sighing slow jam with a writing assist from
Raphael Saadiq and a hint of
Sade's "Cherish the Day." Two of
Keys' most moving vocal performances are contained in "Is It Insane," an anguished torch song done acoustic jazz-trio style, and "Love When You Call My Name," a levitating ballad out of time.
Keys produced most of the first disc on her own, and for the second disc teams almost exclusively with
Mike WiLL Made-It and associates for the alternate versions. The makeovers range from subtle to fairly extreme. "Nat King Cole" is turned into hip-hop soul with an obvious debt to early
Portishead (and an insignificant verse from
Lil Wayne). The "Skydive" remodel, which likewise evokes the mid-'90s, is much craftier, retaining some of the bass from
Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat" but smoothing it out to be in a class with
Mary J. Blige's "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" or
Groove Theory's "Tell Me." The latter half's new songs are two of the album's higher-profile collaborations: a tentative-sounding missed opportunity with
Khalid and
Lucky Daye, and an intoxicated duet with
Swae Lee where
Tyrone Davis' coasting 1979 hit "In the Mood" does most of the work. ~ Andy Kellman