Solange - When I Get Home (2019)

Solange – When I Get Home

  Solange is deceiving, a seemingly perfect list of contradictions. Before 2016, few conversations could have been had that didn’t involve her epithet as Beyoncé’s younger sister, a shadow that only grew larger year by year as briefs stints on tour with Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child led to minimal exposure. The simple narrative focused on the talented younger singer, hanging onto the coattails of the biggest star of the 21st century as only family could. But in reality Solange is more complicated, a talented singer – yes, but a singular entity that strives to be heard against the back drop of a false flag. She did in fact come from the Knowles family, where she released her first album on her father’s label much like her sister, but as Beyoncé broke on to the scene with Destiny’s Child’s second album and was signed to Columbia, Solange struggled in ambiguity. It’s easy to follow this narrative when comparing the two for most of their career, in 2006 Solange appeared in the direct to video release of Bring It On: All or Nothing, that same year Beyoncé would go on to star in Dreamgirls, similarly two years later when Solange received positive reviews for her second album, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, it paled in comparison to her sister’s release of I Am... Sasha Fierce, which sold over eight million copies. Since 2016 however, Solange has been given a very different different explanation for her ascension to fame. A Seat at the Table proved not to be a vanity project released on her families label Music World label, but a groundbreaking, critically acclaimed album that would help define modern R&B, one that seemed to embody the toil and sweat of a singer who had spent a decade working for minimal fanfare. It was popular too, becoming Solange’s first Billboard number one album. Later that same year, Lemonade topped the charts at number one as well, but it was clear that 2016 belonged to Solange. When I Get Home is no victory lap. Instead it is threatening; it is steady and resolute in its structure. It knowingly draws comparisons to ASATT with its album art and in its deceiving track listing, providing a list of 19 songs that suggest the girth of a double album but require only a fleeting 39 minutes. The album acts as a statement, asserting that ASATT was no fluke, and that Solange’s style and her inclinations towards representing modern black culture are consistent. Musically, the album pushes the listener further into the future with less of the sublime sweetness and accessibility of "Cranes in the Sky" and more assertive neo-soul vocals. Solange and her guests, mostly the who’s who of hip hop, are more naturalistic; rapping, singing and talking through whatever appearances they contribute. When speaking to Pitchfork in an in interview before the albums release, Knowles acknowledged this album was focused more on how she feels compared to on ASATT where she focused on what she felt she needed to say. That’s true; nothing more needed to be said on ASATT  that couldn't be said here and Solange smartly kept her hands in the game while pushing her music forward. If Beyoncé does release an album later this year, for the first time it will likely be compared it to Solange’s.

~8.5