ESPERANZA SPALDING — Songwrights Apothecary Lab (review)

ESPERANZA SPALDING — Songwrights Apothecary Lab album cover Album · 2021 · Pop/Art Song/Folk Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
js
Esperanza Spalding’s latest album, “Songwrights Apothecary Lab”, is much more than just a collection of songs, instead it represents Spalding’s latest research into music as a healing force. The album title is the same as a program that Spalding curates at Harvard in which musicians, therapists and neuroscientists come together to study the healing powers of music. The big question to the typical layman then is, ‘does this really work’. I think if you are need of healing and open to the influence of this music, then yes, you may feel its effects. On the other hand, if you are busy and distracted you may not notice much of anything. The healing comes to those that seek it.

Musically this is a very diverse set that draws on art pop, rhythmic drones, various styles of jazz and introspective folk music. Finding comparisons can be difficult, but there is a good dose of Alice Coltrane on here, maybe a bit of Joni Mitchell and the avant-garde horn arrangements on Formwela 9 may remind some of Charles Mingus or Sun Ra. Formwela 3 gets into a free fusion jam with Wayne Shorter on board, but the harsh horn sound is not a typical one for Shorter. Although most of this music is not particularly dissonant, this is far from easy listening or background music, this album demands you pay attention, its just too detailed not to.

Although most of these tracks fall into a singer/songwriter category with the expected introspective lyrics about relationships and one’s relationship with the world, there are a couple of good instrumentals as well. The first two tracks get into a nice Indian influenced drone complete with carnatic vocals from guest Ganavya, and Formwela 8 is a lengthy African groove with what sounds like a Lowery organ involved, the same organ sound that Alice Coltrane preferred. No doubt this is a very ambitious musical work, but how well that translates into an enjoyable listening experience may vary per the listener. Esperanza obviously tries to come up with music that is unique, and to that end she very much succeeded here, but there are going to be those who wish there were a few more familiar riffs here and there,
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