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Track-by-track from NME.com:

 

Intro

The first sign of how strongly Kelis wants her album to chime with the times arrives within three seconds, when a loping kickdrum announces that she's gone italo disco. While stately electro-funk pings all around her, the ex-Mrs Nas offers a deliberately overwrought, emotion-saturated vocal – a bit like Bowie circa 'Heroes'. Key lyric: “We control the dancefloor”.

 

22nd Century

The manifesto. Boys Noize take production duties and immediately start deploying the hoover-house synths that are to become the album's hallmarks. They're soon joined by its other hallmark: an unashamedly-large four-to-the-floor kick-drum. Kelis essays her whole futurist house-meets-disco-meets-electro new direction thus: “Welcome to the 22nd Century/religion, science fiction, technology”, shortly before the whole thing submerges into an astonishing wave-after-wave of ear-candy digitized bleeps and gurgles.

 

4th Of July (Fireworks)

The hip-house dream didn't die with Justin Nevins. It was just on a heart-lung machine for 12 years, until sometime Black Eyed Peas associate DJ AMMO could re-fit a big Nevins-style kick drum onto this surefire future single. Contains: mainly frazzled, sonically-saturated electro that reminds us of The Love Below at its most boxing-clever.

 

Home

A minor-key ra-a-a-a-ve synth line predominates early on: a bit like something Oakenfold would've dropped at Global Gathering 2002. Kelis at her most breathy, does her now-familiar astral saucepot croon: “Your love is blinding/I'm already home”.

Acapella

The single that's already delivered a jewel-encrusted battering ram into the top ten. Incredibly, for for all its 'I Feel Love' sophistication and glistening Hollies harmonies, it's still not even in the top-three songs on here.

 

Scream

David Guetta, the album's lead producer and spiritual father, gets to put his whole bag of tricks on display. A glistening blade of blues melody slices in atop a rinky-dink sampled piano. Lots of sonic confusingness: the whole song evaporates midway through, then reassembles and feeds into a stacatto spoken-word electroclash midsection.

 

Emancipate

In which Kelis visits the Rio carnival, harvests samba-styles by the kilo, then uses them for a song of trite platitudes about a self-help and empowerment with the sort of one-note ra-ta-ta carnival chorus that can easily be tooted out on a whistle.

 

Brave

After a brief – cripes – dubstep interlude, Kelis calls in the Justice distorted-electro howitzers to blasts the last vestiges of new-direction resistance out of her fanbase. A treated crash cymbal brings the aggressive overtones of DFA1979. She belts it like Loleatta Holloway. It's suddenly very Ed Banger round here.

Song For The Baby

The most traditional, most recognisably R&B moment, 'Song For The Baby' finally plonks Kelis back on solid ground. Some old-soul piano chords that could have been culled from Aretha meet up with some friendly Stax horns and invite a markedly less robotic Kelis in to sing a winsome, positive melody advising her young kid on future happiness. The final moments are fed back through the Daft Punkificator, before fading out slowly, soothingly.

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She was absolutely amazing on Saturday night :wub:! Acapella was amazing! She sung '22nd Century' and '4th of July' and I think possibly a bit of 'Shout'!

 

Loved it! <3

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Eugh. '4th of July' is a good track, but 'Home' clearly needs to be the next single. A smash in the waiting.

Unless it has a brilliant radio edit I can't see '4th of July' doing much chartwise if I'm honest.

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Love the intro. 'Brave' sounds pretty amazing from the clips.
no, they are longer because of the seque's, not because they are different versions.
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Only just dawned on me that this is out next Monday...I've been thinking it was due out here June 6th (the US release date) for some reason! :lol:

cant wait, it should leak at some point tomorrow, if not, it will definitely by friday morning cos its out friday in ireland.

Iv just realised that there are plenty of songs from this era just not on the actual CD.

 

Intro (I have named it 'It's You' on my iTunes, cos its a song on its own really, and its brilliant)

22nd Century

4th of july

home

acapella

scream

emancipate

brave

song for the baby

 

+ bonus tracks

Alive

kids

karefree amerikans

 

+ other dance songs from her recently

no security

spaceship

grey goose

 

= 15 songs. plus in July we will have around 6 new tracks for the US release. and we have an extended version of 'Scream'. So im happy with this. I only buy the physical CD for the artwork, booklet and supporting the artist ect. I rarely listen to the CD's tbh lol, i use itunes or my ipod to listen to them.

 

 

and my HMV exclusive was shipped out today :D :D

Edited by PopBoi

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'Brave' is f***ing incredible.

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