Colour Me Free

by

Joss Stone

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The original album art for "Color me free" had Joss Stone as a mannequin tightly trapped in a small cage, a visual depiction of her discontent with her record company. Suffice it to say, her record label declined and what we get is this plain purple cover instead.

Thankfully, the music inside is rich and colourful, a continuation of the retro Soul sound on her last CD, and her emoting is more soulful (she did tend to overdo things a wee bit earlier in her career). Opening is lead-off single "Free me", a slice or Retro Soul. Similar is the delightful kiss-off "Could have been you" (which reminds me a wee bit of "Walk on by"), while the bouncy and the enchanting "Parallel lines" features Jeff Beck and Sheila E (and some wicked guitar playing and nice percussion). One of my favourites.

Other standouts include the ballads "Lady", "4 and 20" and the piano ballad "Girlfriend on demand". The upbeat "Big ol' game" features her rumoured boyfriend Raphael Saadiq. "Governmentalism" is a sprawling socially conscious epic featuring a rapped bridge from NaS. "You got the love" is a horn-peppered remake of the Candi Staton song (also recently covered by Florence & The Machine). "I believe it to my soul" is a Blues/Jazzy number featuring David Sandborn.

Standout, in my opinion, is "Stalemate", a duet with Jamie Hartman which appeared on his band Ben's Brother's album in 2008, explaining why he sings the first verse. His voice is soothing yet raspy in a Rod Stewart way, perfectly contrasting with Stone's Joplin-esque firepower taking over and making the song all hers.