The reissues of the first two D’angelo albums come after last year’s huge critical success, Black Messiah. Amidst stories of his troubled life and no music in 14 years, D’angelo dropped a surprise album. Even though it was released in December, it still managed to top the Pazz and Jop annual end-of-year list a few weeks later.
D’angelo was part of the mid-nineties neo soul movement, often credited as the most influential artist of that scene. Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Maxwell all released excellent soul albums in the following few years.
Out of his three albums, ‘Brown Sugar’ produced the biggest hits but it seems to be the least talked about. Listening to it 20 years after its release, it’s aged remarkably well. It’s a much slicker album than his most recent two releases.
The title track kicks off the record with great style. It’s such a smooth opening to the album and a timeless single. ‘Lady’ remains one of the greatest singles of the 90s. It’s a song that’s made by its funky, hypnotic bassline and fingersnap rhythm. D’angelo gives one of his finest vocals with the refrain, “You’re my lady” lingering in your head long after the song has ended. The rest of the album is filled with rich and chilled songs. One of the highlights, ‘Smooth’, is aptly titled.
As enjoyable as Brown Sugar is, it feels lightweight compared to what he did next. It’s a more traditional soul album, inspired by Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson (his cover of Smokey’s ‘Cruisin’ is fairly faithful to the original). The arrangements are loose and the production is lush, with the songs flowing seamlessly. Lyrically the album is slightly repetitive and sometimes cliched. The emulation of his heroes can be a bit too close at times. It’s an enjoyable album, but he soon proved he was capable of much more.
Five years after Brown Sugar, D’angelo came back with ‘Voodoo’. Despite some critical acclaim and huge record sales (mainly in America), its reputation has grown more pronounced over time. It’s not as easy to digest as Brown Sugar, but it’s so much more rewarding on every level.
As soon as the intro to the opener (‘Playa Playa’) starts, it feels like you’re in a smoke-filled jazz club. The horns come in and it’s evident that it’s not going to be as smooth as Brown Sugar.
It’s no surprise that D’angelo was heavily obsessed with Sly & The Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On while recording Voodoo. Paranoia fills his songs in the same way, and the outcome is an album of equal quality to theirs.
‘Devil’s Pie’ is one of Voodoo’s best and darkest moments, “Ash to ash dust to dust, there ain’t no justice just us”. He turns a dark song into a singalong complete with hand claps at the end. It’s bleak and funky at the same time. His vocals feel more muted here than they did on Brown Sugar — on ‘Chicken Greese’ they’re barely audible. It adds to the sense of mystery that’s all over Voodoo. His lead vocals are often swamped by his own backing vocals or effects. It’s almost like he’s trying to keep some distance between himself and the listener.
Lyrically, Voodoo shows D’angelo coming from a dark place. Songs like ‘The Root’ show that the seemingly confident man pictured on the cover isn’t as happy as he could be: “I feel like my soul is empty/ my blood is cold and I can’t feel my leg/ I need someone to hold me/ bring me back to life before I’m dead”. Themes of paranoia and doubts come to a head in ‘The Line’, “Said/ ‘I know everybody watchin’ me/ I said the pressure is on from every angle, political to personal/ will I hang or be left hangin’? Will I fall off? Or will it be bangin’? And I say it’s up to the man upstairs”. It’s unsettling to hear, but his honesty is part of the appeal of Voodoo.
Voodoo’s emotional climax comes with the penultimate song, the seductive and stunning ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’, the video of which features a naked D’angelo seducing his viewer. The song feels romantic and leads to one of the most beautiful climaxes in music, before a sudden stop when the listener wishes the guitar would keep playing for at least another seven minutes. It’s no surprise that ‘Untitled’ has become his signature song.
The success of ‘Untitled’ should have been the start of something very special for him. Instead came a 14 years without any releases. The aforementioned video for Untitled made him a heartthrob, but it also put doubts into his head about being taken seriously. His neo soul contemporaries also became less prolific, yet still managed to put out some of their best work: Erykah Badu’s stunning New Amerykah Part One in 2008 and Maxwell’s gorgeous BLACKsummers’night in 2009. This, coupled with emerging artists like Miguel and The-Dream, took the spotlight from D’angelo, who was once R&B’s hottest name.
Voodoo is a full 78 minutes long but it never sounds boring. The songs have depth, and there is inspired, adventurous song writing with perfectly balanced production. The execution is spot on. It’s easy to understand the pressure he felt to follow up this perfect record. Luckily, despite his personal problems, D’angelo came back with an album that was almost worth the wait. Hopefully, the success of Black Messiah gives him more confidence to come back with another record a lot sooner.
