// ROCKA.CANDY // | THE ANTHONY MACKIE OF BLOGS

After a four year hiatus India.Arie releases her third studio album Testimony: Vol 1, Life & Relationship - in stores June 27th.

How does an R&B-folk artist adjust in a musical world of saturated Beyoncé clones?  Arie is arguably the only survivor of the “neo-soul” rush, but the land of R&B has dramatically changed since Acoustic Soul in 2000 and her Grammy winning second album Voyage to India in 2002.  Arie is not attempting to compete, but simply concerned with being herself regardless of the flaws, or the excellence.  Testimony: vol 1, Life & Relationship is another great statement in India’s career and continues to place her in an undefined category that is authentic, but can be a high expectation to constantly reach.

Arie is refreshing next to the current slut puppies of R&B.  Her music, style, voice and lyrics are something we haven’t heard since she arrived in the music industry.  The new album is a slightly remixed version of her previous albums with the most striking difference being that she is no longer the love-dust, sugar plum, sunflower blooming in an ethereal summer breeze.  Arie is opening up about herself as a woman, artist and someone who has learned life lessons.  Her voice slithers across each song with a smooth, but yet melancholy tone seeming to channel the old days of rhythm and blues when artists grabbed a barely tuned guitar to whoever would listen.  India does not seem to care if you like her music; she just wants you to feel her music.   

There are several gems on the new album and one being the flawless Don Henley remake “The Heart of Matter.”  It is her greatest musical and vocal moment of her three albums with a transcendental voice that truly makes her audience believe, “It’s about forgiveness … even if you don’t love me anymore.”   In addition, India steps out of her expected comfort zone with the first single and remixed version of “I Am Not My Hair” featuring Akon.  She puts the guitar to the side and sings over an infectious hip-hop beat giving us the tragic history of black folks and hair, but letting you know that she could go pop … if she wanted to.  Akon’s lyrics are strikingly conscious and while India could’ve gone the Talib Kweli, or Common route, she chose an artist who we wouldn’t normally hear these types of lyrics.  India manages to mix an enjoyable blend of R&B, hip-hop, pop and even a little funk.  In songs like “I Choose”, “Wings of Freedom” and “Better People” the funk beat moves the song, which is a strong difference compared to her previous “girl and a guitar” albums.

There is a lot to expect from India.Arie, after all she is a singer/songwriter who is draped in sarongs, natural hair and “empowering” lyrics.  When other artists are half-naked with only a long weave and a skimpy outfit covering their musty bodies no one is expecting them to be “deep.”  Therefore, the bar is much higher and an audience will listen for elements of artistry that would otherwise be ignored with other artists.  For all of India’s “naturality” she sometimes falls in the trite and predictable.  For example, her religious and spiritual ramblings tend to warp the music into a Christian-R&B-folk album.  She opens the album with a serenity prayer and nearly every song she slips in repetitive lyrics like, “I know that God’s will be done so I lay down my pain …” There is nothing wrong with mentioning God in music, but sometimes India seems to place herself on the legendary, preachy Lauryn Hill pedestal of the late ‘90s– and we all see where that got her!

The backbone of India’s music is her thought-provoking lyrics, which is completely missing in most of R&B.  However, sometimes her lyrics are as humdrum as her pop counterparts.  In the filler “Private Party” she nearly talks in tune, “I tried to call my mother, but she didn’t get where I was going.  I called my boyfriend and said – call me back a little later, baby.”  One could easily imagine these lyrics in a Destiny’s Child song.  Her push to be “positive” sometimes resembles the affirmations of an elementary dramatization workshop with cheesy lines in “There’s Hope” like, “It doesn’t cost a thing to smile, you don’t have to pay to laugh, and you better thank God for that.”  All of this gooey self-love might make someone want to hate themselves!

India’s vocals are beautiful, calm and passionate.  Nonetheless, several times I wanted India to smash her acoustic guitar, grab an electric guitar and rock her soul to the edge.  India’s serene vibe would feel more balanced if she would at least take one song, scream a vocal and let us know she is sweating a bit in the studio.  There has always been an energetic, raw wall that India seems like she could crash through, but never does.

Once again, the bar for India is much higher than her R&B counterparts. Actually India’s true counterparts are Jewel, Alanis Morissette and other girls with guitars, but because she is a black female artist she will always be lumped in with other black girls, regardless of the musical content.  She still is not your average girl and cannot be categorized.  Testimony: Vol 1, Life & Relationship is the most confessional, revelatory and passionate album that you will find from any mainstream R&B artist in 2006.

Related > The India.Aire Interview