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[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The soft grain of Brandy's voice is one of those sounds in pop that I never realise just quite how much I love - it's something I often turn to when fragile or hungover, and her 2004 album Afrodisiac is an all-time favourite 4eva. She always manages to seem quietly unassuming even when singing declarative ryde-or-die epics (like her last single, 'Right Here (Departed)', and its somewhat messianic/beatific video) - the combination of cosmic scope and intimate feel is a very effective one, even though it means she'll never have a single of the magnitude of, say, 'Umbrella' or 'No One'. The same applies to her new single, 'Long Distance', which is a powerballad of rather immense proportions and an excellent video:

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Other urgent & key tracks from the new Brandy album - 'Piano Man' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAXPU_pL0nU), a lovely tribute to Rodney Jerkins - like Ne-Yo's 'Single', meta done extremely movingly: "Play me a song about heartache, I swear I can sing every word/Play me a song about love lost, cuz that's another one everyone's heard." Also, 'Something's Missing' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeD0X0SUvoo), a rather curious near-acappella on which Brandy sings the beat ("boom...clap...boom...clap..."), hums the bass and trails off on a variety of backing vocal tangents.

[weasel-seeker.livejournal.com]

I'm not a ballad guy at all, and Long Distance is the first proper all-consuming ballad we've had in a while that I really like. I'm not sure if it's the tune or the chord progression or something, but this is all appropriately massive. Especially at the end when it's snowing and raining simultaneously in the sun and there's a FIRE on a chair.

How does the rest of the album hold up overall?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Very well! I don't know if you heard Afrodisiac in 2004 (or indeed Full Moon in...was it 2001? I AM OLD NOW) but as per my reply to credoimprobus below, I didn't initially think Human matched up - but really that's unfair, Afrodisiac was a real game-changer (NB: bear in mind that I am the only person in the world who thinks this), it foreshadowed the second wind of Timbaland and all the critical jizzing over FutureSex/LoveSounds. Human is still sinking in for me but it definitely holds up in its own right.

[weasel-seeker.livejournal.com]

Afrodisiac is awesome. Haven't heard Full Moon.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Arf that is a ridiculous video. It's like a Sony advert!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Ha I assume you mean the 'Right Here (Departed)' one where Brandy is like JESUS or something!

[credoimprobus]

I listened to Human just yesterday, and...it's kind of astounding, isn't it? I need to give it more listens to let it sink in properly, but on first impression the beginning and end of the album is best for me -- both of the two album tracks you posted above are favourites, and the 1-2-3 at the end of Something's Missing/1st & Love/Fall is just massive.

I'll have to check out the videos when I have more time, but the singles themselves definitely get thumbs up from me.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yeah the closing 1-2-3 just springs up out of nowhere - I never expect the closing stages of pop albums to do that. '1st & Love' is HUGE.

It did take a couple of listens to sink in for me, because Brandy can make even her most epic tracks seem initially unassuming (which is a compliment!), and of course I was making the unavoidable comparisons with Afrodisiac, which still doesn't get enough credit for being a game-changing R&B album; and it's hard for anything to measure up to that. And as epic as 'Right Here (Departed)' is, that style is enough of a template that even Christina Milian's had a flop comeback jacking it. BUT once I started listening to it on its own merits...yeah, it is quite something. Really love 'Shattered Heart' and 'Camouflage', too.

[credoimprobus]

1st & Love took approximately a day to become my unchallenged favourite song of the year, so, yeah, "huge" is a pretty good description of it! The pure elation of it kind of brings 1 Thing to mind, as different as the two are stylistically. And I love how it does that thing where it waits right till the end of the chorus to go huge; gives the moment even more punch.

I'm completely crazy about Warm It Up as well -- there's something really powerful about its subtlety, and that vocal arrangement! So lush.