I have wanted and tried to love Joss Stone ever since her first album The Soul Sessions debuted to much critical acclaim back in 2003. However while I always found her voice quite astonishing and her style quite polished for someone her age, I never felt particularly moved by her music. Stone always seemed to me to be more of a mimic than a true artist.
That is, until the recent release of her new album Introducing Joss Stone. “Introducing” is a great word to use in the title of Joss Stone’s latest musical collection because for the first time on this new disc, we finally get to hear what Joss Stone is all about. She is neither an old soul trapped in a beautiful young face and body, nor is she a merely gifted imitator of that which she has absorbed from the past.
On the contrary, Stone illustrates with every lick of her soulful voice on the Raphael Saadiq-produced Introducing Joss Stone that she has her own distinct sound it is one to be reckoned with. Once you get past the almost too obvious spoken word dialogue by Vinnie Jones about ‘change’ which is meant to introduce Stone’s new sound, Joss takes the reigns of her new sound and rides it solidly to the victory, effortlessly hurdling fourteen fresh, urban contemporary tracks splish-splashed with 70’s era soul along the way. Beginning with a very appropriate drum roll, Introducing Joss Stone opens with the swinging, old-school “Girl They Won’t Believe It,” where Stone’s voice has the power and fierceness of early Mariah, only quite a bit more soulful.
Particularly impressive are Stone’s R B soul shouting abilities combined with her knack for soaring to the nether regions of her vocal range and then descending backing down to delicate girlish whisper. Stone summons up her inner Aretha on “Tell Me Bout It” that would surely even make ol’ Re Re stand up, roll her neck and snap her fingers in approval. The young R B scion also stands out on the sassy uptempo “Put Your Hands On Me” which for some reason seems like a song that would beequally perfect for Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson, who Stone’s vocals vaguely recall on this track.
On the mellower side, Stone tears up two of the disc’s ballads, “Bruised But Not Broken” and “What Were We Thinking,” both of which she sings with the confidence and knowing of a woman well beyond her years. Kudos also to Saadiq for giving Stone contemporary production that does not sell out her talent on stellar tracks like the hardcore R B groove “Baby, Baby, Baby” and the mid-tempo gem “Music” featuring a special appearance by Lauryn Hill. After two decent but flawed albums Joss Stone finally gets a proper introduction with Introducing Joss Stone that left me saying ‘Pleased to meet you.
What are you doing later?’ And I haven’t asked that question of a beautiful young lady in a very long time.
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