When I Get Home – Solange
Harry
After the hype of Solange’s breakthrough album ‘A Seat At The Table’ a while back, finally indulging in some more Knowles content had me very excited. I was particularly interested in hearing what she had to say, from the limited knowledge I had of her work. ‘When I Get Home’ Sees her straddling Blood Orange style production and album structure with Kelela style spacey/cosmic R&B. These two influences surely would be up there in my ideal blends of styles. Unfortunately, I found the album rather disappointing. The instrumentation is absolutely gorgeous (like the synth chord/bassline backing to Dreams – probably my fave song) but just drifts away in the wind as the album goes on. Her voice doesn’t help this, which is beautiful in places but lacked real emotive power and grounding force. Finally, what I looked for in her lyrics wasn’t there either. Sadly, after this album, I wouldn’t give Solange a seat at my table.
57/100
Zach
I feel like this album is the sort of album that Harry and I ‘should’ review. It’s the type of album that will find itself in all sorts of blogs’ ‘Top Albums of the year’ because they want to appear cultured. Solange is the type of artist that gets a lot of hype due to the fact that she is subverting the expectations set by her superstar sister. However, I think this album does not bring a lot to the proverbial table. I would describe it as fragmented alternative R&B, and the majority of songs follow a similar structure of a repeated lyric or instrumental riff that is quite alone in the texture of the music. The song’s don’t really go anywhere, and due to the fragmented lyrics, the album doesn’t bring a lot in the way of lyrical meaning either. At my harshest, I struggle to see what the point of this album is. I don’t feel any themes or gauge any continuity in message throughout. Also, I couldn’t help but think how terrible her live show would be on an album like this. Just a thought. Disappointing album ngl.
Spazzy McGee 