D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah (Album Review)
Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Written by Huw Baines
How many times does someone have to jump out and shout ‘surprise!’ before the shock wears off? Not too many, I’d wager, given the recent diminishing returns as big names have snuck big records out into the world. But, then, along came D’Angelo to change all that. The arrival of ‘Black Messiah’, that fabled third album, just before Christmas was a glorious shock to the system.
To have been working on a record for such a length of time - ‘Voodoo’ is now almost 15 years old, ‘Brown Sugar’ is pushing 20 - and have it be as prescient as ‘Black Messiah’ shows that the spark of inspiration remains intact despite many murmurs to the contrary. So, too, is D’Angelo’s ability to deliver in a manner that, at one time, only he could. Maybe that’s still the case.
In many ways this is his TheThin Red Line; a work with considerable weight on its shoulders from the get-go that nevertheless manages to be both powerful and subtle, navigating a broad palette of styles without sacrificing anything in the way of cohesion.
With D’Angelo backed by the Vanguard, this is as organic a soul record as we've heard in recent years, with guitars - Spanish when the slow jams hit, gritty electric when needed - and horns overlaying clever, syncopated rhythms and left-field melodies.
While the quality of the comeback is one to soothe the souls of wide-eyed optimists, the record's narrative is rooted in grim reality, as its rush-release suggested. Its world is one into which the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner slip all too easily, one where D'Angelo's motives are reinforced by an almost circular sense of misery and lessons not learned.
Where 1000 Deaths teeters on the brink - fear, ideas of cowardice and looming violence all bubbling in an uncomfortable brew - The Charade, one of a number of co-writes with Kendra Foster and ?uestlove, uses the sort of dextrous neo-soul that D’Angelo came close to perfecting on ‘Voodoo’ to unpick the fierce contradictions of ‘post-racial’ America. “All we wanted was a chance to talk...’stead we only got outlined in chalk,” he almost whispers in the chorus, repetition of the phrase burning brighter at the song’s conclusion.
Its thematic weight is matched beat-for-beat by the sort of expressive, inventive musicianship that set ‘Voodoo’ apart, with the intricacies of Sugah Daddy’s percussive heart laid alongside Prayer’s molten guitars and the soaring hook that defines Back To The Future Part II.
Comebacks aren’t easy, and most of the time they aren’t successful. On ‘Black Messiah’, D’Angelo has driven a wedge between what’s currently accepted as progressive in the mainstream and what should be considered progressive. After 15 years away - a period during which he battled drink and drugs and flitted in and out of public view - he’s returned to ask some important questions. That some of them are doubtless a decade old and hit this hard is a depressing ace in the hole.
D'Angelo Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue February 17 2015 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Wed February 18 2015 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Fri February 20 2015 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
Sat February 21 2015 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
Click here to compare & buy DAngelo Tickets at Stereoboard.com.
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