Kelela - Raven (2023) CD-Rip

Take Me Apart set a new standard for progressive R&B without concessions to urban contemporary radio programming. The album's ensuing batch of remixes – in which Kelela was intensely involved, even revoicing some songs – pulled together contributions from the far-ranging likes of CupcakKe, serpentwithfeet, and go-go legends Rare Essence, the latter reconnecting Kelela to her birthplace of Washington, D.C. There was no telling which path the singer/songwriter and producer would take until she returned four years later with "Washed Away," the first preview of Raven. A sheer ballad functioning like an extended exhalation – one full of exquisite melisma and scatting, that is – "Washed Away" has a regenerative effect. Achieving splashdown as it fades out, the song suitably introduces an album presented by Kelela as "an affirmation of Black femme perspective in the midst of systemic erasure and the sound of our vulnerability turned to power." The statement is confirmed strongest in the title song, where Kelela rails against thievery and ineffectuality, and proclaims her resilience and independence before losing herself on the dancefloor to itch-scratching bass frequencies. It segues into the knocking "Bruises," its air of inconquerability sensed until Kelela confirms the feeling with "I changed my fate and my girl did the same/And we came to destroy." Constant if fluid oscillations between diaphanous ballads, pulsing slow jams, and modern street soul bangers are just as suited for the greater number of songs based in relationships. The water and flotation metaphors keep flowing, too, whether Kelela is in an ecstatic state in the bedroom or on the dancefloor (the wispy "Sorbet" and heady drum'n'bass of "Contact"), or coping with a split (the plangent "Divorce"). In several other songs, Kelela is dealing with a lover who is noncommittal, elusive, and inexpressive. They're just as affecting. The deep crew of collaborators here is almost entirely different from that of Take Me Apart, retaining Asmara for much deeper production involvement, with LSDXOXO, OCA, and Bambii likewise figuring prominently. Others factoring in Kelela's vision include painter Janiva Ellis (additional lyricist on several songs), Fauzia, and We Are King's Paris Strother.