Alicia Keys Makes a Stellar Return With Soulful New Album ‘Here’

Brett Callwood

Alicia Keys new studio album shows she’s very much on top of her game, arguably the queen of contemporary R&B at present. Beyonce fans might kick up a fuss about that very notion, but Keys is on another level entirely. Her melodies are strong enough to appease the pop crowd, but there’s a level of depth that goes beyond the norm right now and her lyrics pack significance. “Here“ is a special album indeed.

Her sixth album starts very gently with “The Beginning (Interlude),” a song that eases the listener into “The Gospel,” and now we’re really moving. Without sounding preachy or resorting to hyperbole, without using crass tricks to pull on our heartstrings, Keys instead plays it intelligently and tells stories, transporting us directly to 1980s Hell’s Kitchen with lines such as, “So we all got children, products of the ghetto, momma cooked us soup, daddy did the yelling, uncle was a drunk, cousin was a felon, when he got pinched, he told them he wasn’t telling.”

That’s where Keys excels – pulling the listener in and taking us places. The first single, “Blended Family (What You Do for Love),” hinted at what was to come. The production is crystal clear but there’s a strong earthy vibe in there, typical of Keys. The musicianship is exemplary but there’s little in the way of overplaying, and that sparse vibe suits the song, and indeed the album, perfectly. A little rap interlude by Asap Rocky is worked in well, too. And then there’s the sentiment, an overriding one on the album — that no matter how bad things can get, if you respond with love, if you just keep the faith and give love back, things will be better. Maybe not perfect, but better.

The bigger question, as the message continues with “She Don’t Really Care / 1 Luv” blending into “Illusion of Bliss,” is how the hell does Keys manage to play with this theme without sounding like some sort of hippy-dippy, hallelujah-crying new-age soul mistress. The answer is pretty simple. It’s all a matter of integrity. We’ve become so cynical, in part because of so much pop disguised as R&B that we hear on the radio now, that when we’re confronted with an artist with real soul, we’re suspicious.

Alicia Keys is the real deal, and “Here” is a genuinely moving album. The fact that it sounds slightly out of place says more about us than it does about her.

“Here” is available on Apple Music Nov. 4.