Photo: WENN
After the pleasing but characterless EDM of her last album, Flesh Tone, the retro soul of Kelis’ excellent new album Food represents yet another surprising career swerve, one that cements her status as the most interesting American pop export.
Funny, given that the US largely ignores her. The 34-year-old New Yorker has enjoyed much greater success here in the UK, so the news that she had signed to a UK label for Food was no real shock. The fact that this UK label was Ninja Tune – the pioneers of independent, leftfield electronic and instrumental hip hop – was, however, extremely unexpected. And those expecting experimental electronica were instead served up Motown-inspired soul produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek.
Tonight’s album launch at the intimate Wilton’s Music Hall (a majestically tattered hall built in the 1800s) is, unsurprisingly, geared towards this new material, with Kelis attired like a glitzy Diana Ross and backed by an on point seven piece band. The live brass instruments add real vitality to the lively ‘Friday Fish Fry’, pulsating ‘Jerk Ribs’ and sultry funk of ‘Rumble’, but it’s Kelis’ rich, pitch-perfect vocals that power proceedings.
‘Forever Be’ features the strongest pop melody of 2014, the acoustic ‘Bless The Telephone’ (a cover of Labi Siffre) is quietly moving, and the usually low-toned singer hits Mariah Carey-level high notes during ‘Cobbler’. Naturally. the hits achieve the greatest crowd participation, with ‘Millionaire’, ‘Lil Star’ and ‘Trick Me’ (one of the greatest pop songs of the 21st century) receiving big band soul makeovers. A medley of ‘Get Along With You / Good Stuff / Glow’ is electrifying, while she gyrates against a front row super-fan during a samba-laced ‘Milkshake’, disappearing for five minutes to fix tech issues with her earpiece, allowing the band to kick it into an inspired, impromptu jam.
“One of the perils of actually singing live,” she explains upon returning, before sniggering and adding, “…so bitchy, right?”. She closes the evening with the two hits from Flesh Tone, ‘4th Of July (Fireworks)’ and ‘Acapella’, both of which feature old-school disco soul in place of their original EMD-isms, before finishing off the song she began the set with, a commanding rendition of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’. Kelis looks and sounds just that.
Kelis played:
Feeling Good (intro)
Breakfast
Millionaire
Hooch
Friday Fish Fry
Cobbler
Lil Star
Rumble
Forever Be
Trick Me
Feeling Good (snippet)
Runnin’
Get Along With You / Good Stuff / Glow [Medley]
Milkshake
Floyd
Bless The Telephone
Biscuits n’ Gravy
Jerk Ribs
4th Of July (Fireworks)
Acapella
Feeling Good (outro)
