Or trying to: Pleading a disorienting headcold (“I’m a mess up here”), she shed the wig midset, revealing a rust-colored crop and singing the last third of the show au (relatively) naturel. (That album did supply the oddest choice, the obscure, trippy “Trilogy.”)ĭespite her pledge, Kelis herself was more facilitator than full participant for much of the night, cutting a distant, glammy figure in her silver tinsel wig and geometically-patterned bodysuit. Despite hey-I-know-that-one interpolations of sizeable chunks of “Holiday” and “Sign Your Name,”this was largely a forward-looking set, with “Milkshake” given a perfunctory airing, and singles from 2007’s underperforming Kelis Was Here (“Bossy,” “Blindfold Me”) conspicuously absent. Though her two DJs and a flesh-and-blood drummer were often a less than integral addition to Mac-triggered backing tracks, Kelis’ newest music found its purpose in a live setting: The repetitions and exhortations of “21 st Century” and, especially, “Scream” (“It’s not enough to live, so just dream”) are designed for movement, not contemplation. And how resonant or cathartic one finds the earthily sung, can’t-keep-me-down lyrics arrayed over the beats of “Emancipate ”-“yourself,” who else? - or “Brave” may depend on how closely one has tracked her personal arc (new baby, breakup with Nas) over the last three years. On disc, the shift is disconcerting: Fleshtone is singleminded and curiously stolid, heavy on four-to-the-bar kick drum and light on syncopation. It was a fitting declaration of intent: Anchored by the David Guetta-produced “Acapella,” Kelis’ recent Fleshtone scuttles the ambitiously eccentric R&B of past releases for a harder, club-oriented style more favored in Europe (where she’s always had more hits) than in the U.S. I will participate.” This is what Kelis promised a dance-ready crowd on the second of two New York dates co-headlining the “All Hearts” tour with Swedish electropop bobblehead Robyn.
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