Black Messiah
*Black Messiah* ends one of R&B\'s most mysterious disappearing acts, arriving almost 15 years after D\'Angelo\'s sophomore full-length, *Voodoo*. Filled with fluid musicianship, political dissent, and bewitching production, *Black Messiah* is a mosaic of funky, rule-breaking neo-soul that\'s alternatively rebellious, sensual, and deeply spiritual. The serpentine melodies of D\'Angelo\'s ‘90s work are here, but they’re pushed to an experimental edge by his aptly named band, The Vanguard ((which includes Roots drummer Questlove and jazz luminary Roy Hargrove). Soulful keyboards and richly layered vocal harmonies are at the core of the psych-funk of “Ain’t That Easy” and the piano-driven saunter of “Sugah Daddy,” which stand in contrast to guitar-spiked protest songs like “1000 Deaths” and “The Charade.”
With the shock release of Black Messiah, soul singer and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo returns with his first album of new material in 14 years. Black Messiah is a study in controlled chaos, and D'Angelo is the rare classicist able to filter the attributes of the greats in the canon into a sound distinctly his own.
With the shock release of Black Messiah, soul singer and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo returns with his first album of new material in 14 years. Black Messiah is a study in controlled chaos, and D'Angelo is the rare classicist able to filter the attributes of the greats in the canon into a sound distinctly his own.
What’s remarkable about Black Messiah, other than the fact that it actually exists, is how fresh D’Angelo sounds when slotted next to modern R&B artists. It’s the same trick The Roots pull off with every new album—sounding inherently classic yet completely of the present. There’s a thematic and sonic awareness to Black…
What’s remarkable about Black Messiah, other than the fact that it actually exists, is how fresh D’Angelo sounds when slotted next to modern R&B artists. It’s the same trick The Roots pull off with every new album—sounding inherently classic yet completely of the present. There’s a thematic and sonic awareness to Black…
An emphatic, pertinently weird and masterfully concentrated record, D’Angelo’s comeback LP is as spectacular as anything in his past.
An emphatic, pertinently weird and masterfully concentrated record, D’Angelo’s comeback LP is as spectacular as anything in his past.
Black Messiah has arrived and it has found us wanting. In certain religious denominations, churchgoers are familiar with the phrase, "He may...
Black Messiah has arrived and it has found us wanting. In certain religious denominations, churchgoers are familiar with the phrase, "He may...
Album review: D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah. Fresh, unmistakable, damn near flawless...
Album review: D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah. Fresh, unmistakable, damn near flawless...
Black Messiah is ever-worked, ever-tweaked, and perfected (in its distinctively imperfect way), but soul-bearing and raw like little else.
Black Messiah is ever-worked, ever-tweaked, and perfected (in its distinctively imperfect way), but soul-bearing and raw like little else.
Review of 'Black Messiah' By D'Angelo, for northern Transmissions by Doug Bleggi now out on RCA records
Review of 'Black Messiah' By D'Angelo, for northern Transmissions by Doug Bleggi now out on RCA records
Pity everyone who's already published their albums of the year lists. Like Beyonce in 2013, D'Angelo has just thrown the most humungous spanner in the works, and changed the year's musical landscape in a single day. Pity, too, everyone else who's released a record even vaguely in the vicinity of hip hop / soul / R&B today, as they might as well be shouting in a vacuum (especially poor Tenessee rapper Starlito who managed to drop an album on the same day as Jay-Z's Magna Carter Holy Grail last year, and now has to deal with this).
Pity everyone who's already published their albums of the year lists. Like Beyonce in 2013, D'Angelo has just thrown the most humungous spanner in the works, and changed the year's musical landscape in a single day. Pity, too, everyone else who's released a record even vaguely in the vicinity of hip hop / soul / R&B today, as they might as well be shouting in a vacuum (especially poor Tenessee rapper Starlito who managed to drop an album on the same day as Jay-Z's Magna Carter Holy Grail last year, and now has to deal with this).