Earlier this year Kelis released to the world her sixth studio album, the soul inspired Food, four years after her last record. In July, Kelis brought the album and a handful of hits to Somerset House and recorded the night for her new live album, Live in London.
Appearing with a live band, Kelis doesn’t hold back the crowd favourites performing a variety of classics mixed in with tracks from her latest album. The band are set up to play in the style of Food with big brass sections, tight bass and percussion all mixed with splashes of piano and keys when needed but never failing to give life to older songs in a complementary style.
The set opens with a fantastic version of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’; Kelis’ smooth, soulful voice suits the track remarkably and with its talk of new dawns and new days it reflects the change in style of her new record. The band carry her through a single chorus to move into ‘Breakfast’, the opening track from Food, followed by ‘Millionaire’, her 2003 collaboration with Andre 3000 from the album ‘Tasty’, to which the crowd roar at the sound of the instantly recognisable opening synth riff.
Two more tracks from Food, ‘Rumble’ and ‘Cobbler’ follow. The high tempo from ‘Millionaire’ slows right down with ‘Rumble’, which has a great saxophone solo. Before the song starts, Kelis says, “I’ve written a lot of break up songs before but they’re always so depressing?”. To the amusement of the audience she adds, “ but then there’s the other side and it’s the practical side, the part where I’m over the heartbreak and I’m fine and I’m glad that I did that, but I just want all my stuff back.”
‘Trick Me’ works excellently with the extra ska feel that the band add to it, with a raucous trumpet and horn section taking centre stage during the middle eight. Kelis follows by paying tribute to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and her first appearance on a single with a great sing-along version of ‘Got Your Money’.
“That song is still so much fun, can you believe it’s ten years old!?” Kelis says after performing a jazzy, Latin inspired rendition of ‘Milkshake’. It’s a truly career spanning set with tracks from every album Kelis has put out, bar her 2001 release Wanderland, which adds emphasis to the journey she’s made as an artist juxtaposing her earlier songs with her newer tracks, which are generally more stripped back and down tempo.
Kelis doesn’t miss a note and sounds bold and confident throughout the entire set. Along with a collection of extremely well suited musicians and singers backing her, Kelis’ live performance makes for a really enjoyable listen, rich with atmosphere and from the noise that the audience make it’s clear that they too felt the uplifting vibes in Somerset House.
Words by Ainsley Walker (@ainsleywalker)
Matt Tarr
Latest posts by Matt Tarr (see all)
- WATCH: Gigslutz Spotlight presents… Jammin - July 21, 2016
- PREMIERE: Drey Cheekz teams up with SNE for ‘New Girl’ - June 24, 2016
- LISTEN: Chase & Status unveil new track ‘Spoken Word’ featuring George The Poet - June 20, 2016
