After six albums, R&B star Kelis says she's 'consistently inconsistent' | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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After six albums, R&B star Kelis says she's 'consistently inconsistent'

U.S. singer Kelis performs onstage at Wembley Arena for the music-led volunteering program RockCorps, July 12, 2011 in London. We last heard from shape-shifting R&B singer Kelis four years ago, with the slick club nirvana "Flesh Tone," which she recorded while pregnant with her first child. Her new record, "Food," is an organic throwback that bears little resemblance to her previous work -- and the chameleonic Kelis is, as always, unconcerned about whether her fanbase can follow her latest left turn. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Joel Ryan

TORONTO - It's been roughly four years since the shape-shifting Kelis last materialized with a new record and — of course — visual identity, dropping the glossy dance exercise "Flesh Tone" while morphing into a future-sent house diva.

That her buzzed-about new record, "Food," is an entirely different beast — a joyful retro-soul artifact with instrumentation so organic it could be sold at Whole Foods — should come as less a surprise than a comfort to fans.

Since emerging as a teenager under the wing of Pharrell Williams and the Neptunes, Kelis has been downright chameleonic. It's the quality that has defined and, she acknowledges, perhaps limited her career.

Yet she'd have it no other way.

"When I first started all this in 1998, everybody at labels would always say: 'Kelis, you have to be consistent. People can't identify (with you) because you're not consistent,'" she recalled in a recent interview.

"I was just completely confused by that statement — I didn't understand what they meant. So you fast forward to now, and I'm on my sixth album, and I've proven that you can be consistently inconsistent. I'm this way whether you see me or not.

"I think they were right from a business perspective — for them," she adds. "But I think we've proven them wrong because you and I are sitting here talking right now. And it's 16 years later. So I win."

The 34-year-old New Yorker's gloating might be a bit more enthusiastic at the moment, given the early plaudits for "Food."

Produced entirely by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek — and thus already a stark contrast from the by-committee approach of "Flesh Tone," which credited nearly a dozen producers — "Food" boasts a lush instrumentation perfect for its sleek R&B.

On snaking first single "Jerk Ribs," Kelis's lithe vocals stay restrained while horns swell in the background, while the hooky reverie of "Breakfast" and vampy jam "Runnin'" also amount to easy highlights.

Without eschewing modern touches, the record luxuriates in brassy soul, funk, gospel, pop and even folk. Although much of her signature material was based in electronics — from ferocious 1999 debut single "Caught Out There" to the heatstroke digital rumble of 2003 smash "Milkshake" — Kelis felt a strong urge toward a different direction.

"As fun and as innovative and awesome and absolutely mind-bending as computers and technology can be, I don't necessarily find it beautiful," said Kelis, whose surname is Rogers. "I find instruments and people behind them, I find that beautiful. I find all the imperfections and the lack of control ... I find that beautiful.

"I wanted to make something genuinely beautiful."

Given that the reliably fashion-focused singer has matched her musical transformation with a sartorial one — in which she's favoured sunny vintage duds and a voluminous coif — "Food" might seem a strictly retro exercise.

But Kelis didn't want to make something that merely reproduced the sound and look of a bygone era for an audience fatigued by digital trickery. If she wanted to reproduce anything, it was the feeling those old records gave her as a kid — she wanted to "capture the pulp" of that experience, to again feel that joy.

Lyrically, the record reflects a turbulent era in the singer's life — she filed for divorce from rapper Nas in April 2009 then gave birth to their son, Knight, three months later. She says that motherhood has "changed everything" for her as an artist, and her album at various point seems to touch on her relationship to her parents, her broken marriage and especially the joy of raising a child.

In fact, the press materials promise Kelis's "most frank and vulnerable lyrics to date." But she disagrees.

"I don't think it's my most vulnerable record," said Kelis, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu cooking school who's now hosting a cooking show called "Saucy & Sweet."

"I think because a lot of the melodies are very warm, I think people think it's more melancholic or vulnerable than it actually is.

"I think all my records are really personal."

If "consistently inconsistent" is the best way to describe the look and sound of Kelis's career, it's also an apt term for her commercial returns. The three albums preceding "Food" were released on three different record labels, with that instability surely doing nothing to help further Kelis's cause on the chart.

"Food," however, is being issued by the highly regarded London-based indie label Ninja Tune, home to some of the recent finest in off-kilter electronic, grime, hip hop and dubstep.

Kelis raves about the fit. She says she's not merely found a label, but "partners." Though she shows little concern for the varying commercial returns of past work, it's clear she wants to return the investment the label's made.

"We've got a lot to gain and a lot to lose,"she said. "This has taken an immense amount of manpower and a lot of people's time and energy.

"It feels good. I like working hard with people who want to work hard with me. ... We've all put everything we got into it."

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2014
The Canadian Press

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