WILLOW - Ceremonial Contract (Empathogen Deluxe)
When I want to reset my ears I tend to listen to soul, classical or in this case jazz. This album is a masterclass in contemporary jazz and WILLOW made sure of that. Long gone are the days of whipping her hair, she removed herself from what the audience thought she would do and gave us Willow.
Can we talk about the vocals! I will always harp on about this, but I think it’s so important to note - Willow can play multiple instruments, which I believe allows her to use and want to use her voice in ways that may not be conventional to most. The layering of her voice adds peaks and valleys, creates an atmospheric vibe that takes you away from the present. It’s soul lifting and energising.
The use of live instrumentation - exquisite. You hear the bass and you can see it being played if you close your eyes. More singers need to get back to this, as it elevates a whole project whether it’s an EP or LP. You hear this throughout the whole of the album and it brings in such rawness and authenticity, that it’s intoxicating.
Willow went a step further and released the deluxe, titled Ceremonial Contrafact. This featured three additional tracks, Wanted, Layers and To you. Sometimes deluxe albums aren’t necessary, as the songs added can be neither here nor there, but this isn’t the case at all. In fact, they help to round off the album quite nicely and ending with To you - a simple piano, trumpet and her voice was a great choice.
There are so many songs on this album that I can talk about but I really don’t want to be here all day or spoil it for you. Just know that you’re in for a world of wonder - the vulnerability in all it’s complexities are explored and you can just tell she really put her all in this. It’s quite obvious why this was Grammy nominated and one day I hope to see her snatch the awards.
WILLOW has given us a carefree, angsty, emotional, self reflecting, punchy, unapologetic black girl frequency that is welcomed. She cannot be put in a box and has evolved to truly find her sound. I for one, cannot wait to see what she puts out next.
Rating: 5/5
Top Songs:
False Self
Wanted ft Kamasi Washington
run!
no words 1 & 2
The fear is not real
To you
Between I and she
Down
Symptom of Life