New Amerykah Part 2: Return of the Ankh
When I listen to a new album, I’m usually hoping for something fresh and innovative. Maybe I analyze music a bit too much, so when I listen to something and understand it and compare it closely to other things I’ve listened to within minutes, it bores me very quickly. This particular form of jading has been a reaction in my mind to the astonishing depth of idiocy saturating the current mainstream market. Not only do most of the commercially successful musicians of today rehash and “blend” genres, but they do it with remarkable ineptitude. Naturally, being aware of this trend attracts me to its conceptual opposite.
When I picked up Erykah Badu’s newest release, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh, I was anticipating a huge step in a different direction. The cover art had a stylization reminiscent of Aztec pagan design, but was executed with techniques and colors seen more often in African art. The front picture is Badu made into a giant metal statue sprouting a tree (complete with a naked gardener) from her head, and supported by a psychedelic forest in the background. Though Badu has always shown an interest and relationship with these themes, none of her other albums feature Return of the Ankh’s bold purple and yellow based color scheme or such detail in the artwork. So, it was a great surprise when Badu’s release revealed itself to be a return to basics.
The previous two albums from Badu started her in a different direction than Baduizm and Mama’s Gun. While her Neo-Soul efforts were brilliantly crafted revisitations and revisions of early eighties era R&B, Worldwide Underground and New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War relied more on the hip-hop and funk elements of her sound. Though I was excited to hear more musical exploration and evolution, I was surprised not only by the familiarity of this new album, but also by a feeling of relief. In truth, though her later two works were interesting and certainly more progressive in concept, they never had the infectiousness of her early work. Badu was always at her best when she was backed up by the classic, deeply cut bass grooves and haunting Fender Rhodes flourishes. Not only did it create an incredibly sensual environment to support her alluring voice, but it accentuated her seemingly straight-forward and practical character.
The album starts by making the listener curious. Opening with the bottom end of a theremin that seems to tune in like a radio signal, 20 Feet Tall serves as a spirit charger to introduce the rest of the album. There’s no drumming. Badu sings for over three minutes with heavy arena reverb, backed up by string samples, chimes and a trusty Fender Rhodes. Eerie and a bit too long, this intro at least gives the listener a peek at the overall mood of the album. It ends with laughing children, and this is where the grooves begin.
Her first single, Window Seat, is announced by the drummer’s snare. The piano led groove kicks up, punctuated by a deep, thumping bassline, and a classic Badu tune ensues. Like most of the songs on the album, this song is introspective and presents the paradox of a strong individual who longs for companionship. The progressive and rhythmically spastic Agitation keeps the album flowing. Abrasive and sudden in nature with crisp and agile bass runs and bright guitar sounds, this tune reminds me of late seventies fusion. Though it’s very short, it leaves a lasting impression. Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY) is the next tune, shifting the mood into a playful and ironic disco.
Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long derives its sound more from an early nineties R&B stylization. The hook is incredibly addictive as Badu tells her lover not to stay out too long. The bassline lays out a consistent, thick carpet for the rest of the band to cruise over. Umm Hmm is appropriately named, with yet another vintage R&B foundation. The bassline is very deep with staccato sevenths and octaves accompanied by pizzicato string samples dotting the soundscape. The hook also sports more dramatic string flourishes reminiscent of Motown classics.
The mood turns down a bit as the next track, Love, is introduced by more disruptive theremin and a robotic female voice (the robot Badu from the cover?) defining the effects of love and fear. The groove has a James Brown funk feel, but the pace is slower and Badu’s vocals are whispery, dark and reserved in contrast. The next track is called You Loving Me (Session), and it’s interesting as a first listen only because at the end of it, Badu reveals openly that it was a track that belonged on the cutting room floor. (trust her judgement on this one)
My favorite track on the album is Fall in Love (Your Funeral). Though the instrumentation is consistent with the rest of the album, Fall in Love is highly repetitive, long, and rhythmically hypnotizing. The drum beat swings, but the other instruments do not, causing the flow of the song to be disrupted in a strangely moving way. Incense is the next tune, and it is dominated texturally by a solo harpist. Badu’s vocals take on Eastern phrasing to compliment the similar feel of the samples.
Badu chose Out My Mind, Just in Time to finalize the work; a logical move as this surely is the most experimental track of the lot. It’s sectioned off into three parts, the first being a jazz piano ballad, the second a rhythmically challenging psychedelic sampling exploration, and the ending a heavy soul anthem more consistent with the rest of the album. At the end of this ten minute piece, the album feels resolved, though I must admit it doesn’t keep me from starting the whole thing over.
Erykah Badu caught me off guard with Return of the Ankh, not by departing from her style, but by taking a step back, using some of the techniques she learned from her previous sample-heavy material, and doing what she does well. There’s a casual, inviting attitude throughout, aided in part by entertainingly meaningless banter in between tracks, and aside from the intro track being a bit too long for not having a beat and the You Loving Me speedbump, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh delivers a smooth ride all the way. My only complaint is that the ride is too short.
Published Friday 16th April 2010 - Written by Jeff Benjamin
