NEO-SOUL
Standouts like “Unstoppable” and “What You Don’t Do” make the case for La Havas as a cosmic soul queen, recalling the daydream music Aretha Franklin made in the mid-Seventies. Many will attribute the change to Prince — La Havas performed with him on his last album and on SNL — but for all the low end, these grooves are almost untouched by funk. Her music remains her own; when she sings, “All I’ve ever known is how to be alone,” on “Tokyo,” she’s contemplating her independence as much as lamenting her solitude. It doesn’t all work (see the mushy “Midnight”). But when it comes together — as on the bumping ode to Jamaica “Green & Gold,” and the spare “Wonderful” — this album demands, and rewards, all the attention you can give it.
