Growing Prince’s Sound

Dan Black

Jackson Free Press

March 10, 2010

Prince recently released his newest single, “Cause and Effect,” which is predictably tame and in keeping with the trend of his singles in recent years. It is appearing more and more that Prince’s glory days are behind him. We haven’t gotten a signature catchy, ribald single in the vein of “Little Red Corvette” or “Sexy MF” in years. Luckily, the market for Prince imitators remains ripe. It seems every year an album comes out striving to be the great, lost Prince album.

While these imitators’ albums generally capture the raunchiness of Prince’s lyrics, they rarely venture out of the guitar and synth-based pop sound that made Prince so huge in the early ’80s. What these records are doing is imitating Prince’s sound without trying to grow it. These artists, while offering us fleeting hope that they may represent the next step in this sound’s evolution, inevitably leave us retreating to our copies of “Dirty Mind.”

Dan Black, a British import, is the latest to vie for the “Heir to Prince” title. He demonstrates an ear beyond just the synth-guitar sound on his debut LP “Un.” It is a surprisingly assured and ambitious effort for a debut album. While keeping everything grounded in his electronica/hip-hop comfort zone, Black displays a deft incorporation of R&B, rock and even disco.

The album opens with “Symphonies,” a near flawless pop song. It is a perfectly titled track with lushly orchestrated strings, a choral background and multilayered harmonies. The instantly recognizable “Umbrella” drum sample gives the song its hip-hop edge, and, indeed, rapper Kid Cudi contributes a verse on the reprise at the end of the album. It is the most unique-sounding song on the album and also the best.

This is not to say there is a massive drop-off in song quality, though. Black successfully draws in elements of disco and hip-hop, giving a fresh edge to the record. If he weren’t singing over “Yours,” then any number of rappers would be lined up around the block to take a bite out of the beat. “Pump My Pumps” has a bass line that could have easily been pulled from one of Chic’s hits.

The most interesting development on the album comes in its second half with “Cigarette Pack” and the gorgeous “Life Slash Dreams.” With both these songs, Black crosses into U2/Coldplay territory. The fact that Black’s chameleonic voice is able to smoothly make the transition between hip-hop and rock should not be understated. Music is littered with artists who have tried unconvincingly to make that switch (Coldplay’s own Chris Martin is one); their voices simply don’t translate to the other genre.

Dan Black’s “Un” is as impressive a debut album as you are likely to hear this year. While there is room to grow—specifically in truly finding his own voice—Black demonstrates the chops needed to achieve this growth. Should he find it, he could have a home on the pop charts and critics’ best-of lists for years to come.

Original Article

Prince’s Guitar-Shaped Shadow

Prince- Planet Earth

Jackson Free Press

August 1, 2007

When Prince releases a new album, I want it to be great. I just missed his heyday in the early- to mid-’80s, when he put out no fewer than three classic albums (“Dirty Mind,” “Purple Rain,” and “Sign O’ the Times”) and another four or five albums that blow away what qualifies as pop music today. What continues to make these albums stand out from his releases in the past few years is sheer backbone—which he has since replaced with smooth blandness.

Few popular artists have so brazenly written songs with less regard to what listeners might think than Prince in the 1980s. Throughout the decade, he had the fortitude to write songs on topics as controversial as an incestuous relationship with his sister, using his sexual prowess to break up a marriage, hooking up in a variety of public places and fantasizing about Cindy Crawford.

Though he still has a swagger about him—which emerges periodically, though much less frequently than in his glory days—the gutsiness has essentially disappeared from his music. The most notable return to the Prince of the past was his infamous “shadow” performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, in which his guitar doubled as skin flute. But such bold moves have all but vanished from his recordings, particularly his past three “comeback” albums, released since he regained rights to the name Prince.

“Musicology,” “3121” and his new album, “Planet Earth,” are all lacking the “love it or leave it” attitude that Prince once employed. Now, he seems interested more in doing just the opposite: making everyone love him. This strategy is most evident with the British release of “Planet Earth,” which he distributed for free in the Sunday paper.

Many of his love songs continue to be affecting, though not the way they used to be. They are moving now in a Motown-y kind of way; overwhelmingly, they are generic, G-rated songs.

Gone is the Prince who used intimate personal stories to back up his pain and devotion. This is the “When Harry Met Sally” Prince, not the “Annie Hall” one who wasn’t afraid to defy the rules and make them more danceable.

“Planet Earth” is the most disposable of the three comeback albums. There is little grab to any of the songs, nothing that draws you in and forces you to listen to it the way any great pop song should. Prince used to be a master of this, back when he wrote a verse about having sex with his since-deceased girlfriend on “Another Lonely Christmas.”

The title track on “Planet Earth” is probably the strongest song on the album. In the vein of “Sign O’ the Times” and “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night,” he takes on social issues, tackling everything from global warming to the war in Iraq.

However, the album as a whole is largely forgettable. “3121” continues to be the album to check out if you are interested in the rebirth of Prince, though so far the new Prince has proven to be just a shadow of the original man.

Original Article