The first thing you do Allison Russell on his second solo album is to say goodbye to that tunnel he went through. And if in his first work, “Outside Child” (21), was dealing with something as traumatic as the abuse suffered in his childhood and adolescence, this “The Returner” It is a more cheerful and danceable album, incorporating more soul and funk into its folk roots, capable of putting a brave face on bad weather and never forgetting to remain combative, knowing how to perfectly combine celebration and protest.
The beginning with “Springtime” It is totally significant of the importance of the rhythm and the ‘groove’ in the album, an impeccable beginning of call and response of a lifetime that transmits that joy and joie de vivre that can also be revolutionary and that is, as she herself told me recently, “It is very important to have a good time and have joy, because they want us to be scared and without hope, but there is always hope”. The change in the song, once her particular style with the clarinet appears, goes in that direction, with funk bass and Russell adding parts in French and showing that she is an excellent vocalist.
And this is an album that moves away a little, although without completely forgetting, from the Americana of “Outside Child” to delve into more R&B territories, not in vain among his influences are Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye or Prince. The latter is especially noticeable in a song like “All Without Within”, a clear tribute to the genius of Minneapolis where the former Revolution Wendy & Lisa, who collaborate with Russell on the entire album, leave a lot to notice. “Demons” It also has a soul and funk touch, but slower, again voice chorus and response, while in “Stay Right Here” You can even hear a touch of disco in the most danceable song on the album. Of course, those who became followers with “Nightflyer” You will also find songs like the title track, in which soul goes hand in hand with folk in a song that would put Curtis Mayfield and The Band in agreement; “Eve was black”, where the banjo returns and has another trademark combative lyric, “back to the days when you enslaved your relatives” or the hypnotic and beautiful “Snakelife”.
In short, a new step forward for an artist who is working hard to reach a much broader audience, something that, without a doubt, she can achieve thanks to this remarkable album.
The Returner de Allison Russell