Neneh Cherry
Blank Project
Rating: Woof Daddy
Swedish artpop/R&B/hip-hop diva Neneh Cherry never follows trends, preferring instead to blaze her own. On her debut album Raw Like Sushi she combined elements of hip-hop, pop, R&B, rave, electronic music, and anything else she fancied, and distilled it into one of the most stunning debut records of all time. Despite hit singles like "Buffalo Stance," "Manchild," and "Kisses on the Wind," radio didn't quite know how to handle her, and her trajectory sort of flat-lined. Even with the brilliant follow up Homebrew, there seemed to be no place to pigeonhole her. Her third record, the underrated Man, was never even released in the United States. So instead of changing her sound to conform with popular conventions, Cherry just kept doing her own thing, collaborating with artists that she fancied (Gorillaz, Youssou N'Dour, Peter Gabriel, The The, Kleerup) and staying out the limelight. Only 18 years after the release of her last solo record, Neneh Cherry has come back stronger than ever on her fourth solo album, the blistering Blank Project. Recorded and mixed in a 5-day period, the record was produced by Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) and features work with prior collaborators RocketNumberNine.
What is most noticeable right off the top is how Cherry is still doing what she wants to do, without copping to current trends. Blank Project is a lean, minimalist offering, speaking to electronica, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and pop without directly referencing any of them. Starting off with the hypnotically austere "Across the Water," Cherry speak-sings over a quiet drum beat with no other accompaniment, the silences in between creating caverns of loneliness.
Things perk up a little more as the album progresses, however, aside from percussion and simple synth lines and bass buzzes, the focus is mainly on Cherry's voice, which has grown deeper and more mature. Title track "Blank Project" finds Cherry slithering around a pounding drum beat with a undercurrent of deep bass that pulsates and curls around her voice.
On standout track "Naked," Cherry brushes up against a skittering beat, 808 percussion, and simple synth lines. "Spit Three Times" is a slow burning track full of snarl and menace. Most of these tracks could find easy kinship with the best of Massive Attack circa Mezzanine. The tracks know when to explode and know when to hold back, always curled up like a snake ready to attack at a moment's notice. The squeltchy, slinky "Cynical" punches and spars against Cherry's sassy vocal, while Cherry slows things down to a hush on the mantra like "422" which is merely ghostly, atmospheric synths, muted percussion, and chimes.
While the album itself has a very bleak, dark feel to it, there are moments of levity, like on the collaboration with her Swedish compatriot Robyn "Out of the Black," which finds the two singers having a funky, fun lark.
And on closing track "Everything," Cherry mixes up cut and paste snippets of her vocals with her own one take vocal track. Her voice playing up against itself as she scats and sings over the 7+ minutes of art-blasted drone funk. It is a brilliant way to end the record and is Cherry's way of saying, this is me, accept me for who I am, or move on.
Blank Project is uncompromising Neneh Cherry at her best. There is almost no filler here, each track building off of and complementing each other. I only hope that it is not another 18 years before we get more new music from this trail-blazing artist. Blank Project is seminal Neneh Cherry.
Rating Scale:
Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.
Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.
Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.
Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.
Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.
Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.
Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.
