Neneh Cherry has come a long way since her debut ‘Raw Like Sushi’, released 25 years ago this coming May. Far from her post punk roots that she seeded in The Slits, it fused together R&B, funk, and dance while keeping with her smart mouthed, snappy raps. Now at 49, it’s been 18 years since her last release “Man”. Since then a flood of female hip hop soul vocalists have broken the ranks with gems from Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’, to Janelle Monae’s ‘The ArchAndroid’. Neneh Cherry could have easily overcooked her formula to bring her sound back to now, but ‘Blank Project’ does what it says on the tin. It is simplistic, but marks a new high in the singers career.
The album opener ‘Across the Water’ contains limp thuds and drawn out drum hits with a peculiar rattle, and shows a sensibility in Cherry from lyrics like “my fear is for my daughters” and “give thanks for our children tucked up sweetly in their beds”. This is followed by the album title track ‘Blank Project’ which fires rabid tambourines mixed with a constant shifting bass thump and Cherrys stream of consciousness style of singing throwing lines like “leave me alone but don’t leave me lonely” and “does my ass look big in these new trousers”. While sonically it’s brilliant, it doesn’t feel like she has as much to say as she once did from these lyrics, but she is singing a river of thoughts which many people think but don’t say making it reflective and mildly amusing. ‘Naked’ juxtaposes itself,
the tinny echoes of the beats ring with occasional bleeps are industrial, but Cherrys untouched vocals retain the humanity of the song with lyrics like “strip me naked and put me outside”.
The stuttering underwater fuzz, slaps of bass, and crashing cymbals of ‘Spit Three Times’ is a display of Cherrys emotional paranoia, while ‘Weightless’ is a rock song for the dancers out there with its grinding bass and blunt synths. ‘422’ on the other hand is a low lit stunner formed by spaced out kalimba underneath gentle drums. Along with ‘Across the Water’ it’s one of the rawest moments on the album, but Cherry still doesn’t hold back talking of “the bullshit that gets up your nose”.
While ‘Blank Project’ puts a big focus on Cherry’s commanding vocal, the precise percussive production from Four Tet often compliments her voice. Take ‘Dossier’ which throws in repetitive clacks to morph into a ghostly synth funk that works with the vocals becomes a true anthem where Cherry sounds livelier than ever. The star collaboration is featured thanks to fellow Swedish songstress Robyn who steps into ‘Out of the Black’ where sinister synth squelches turn to quick drums and starry atmospherics for the chorus as both singers voices glide along the song rather than grating it. There’s no artist that could have done it better with Cherry for this melancholic twinkler of a tune. It’s not to say the album doesn’t have it’s flaws, ‘Cynical’ sounds uneven which is ironic as Cherry claims on this “I’ve found my sound”. Unlike the other songs it doesn’t flow with her voice making it a wonky clatter of bass and drums which makes for a discombobulating listen.
This minor slip aside, Cherry has made an album that 18 years from her last has her sounding fresher than ever. It should at times sound industrial and mechanic, but she injects the power into the songs that guide them into her reality. The final bass wobble of ‘Everything’ the albums closer track says “good things come to those who wait they say”. What has been delivered is a consistent album that is vibrant, lively, and ultimately human, which is a combination many artists struggle to master. Yet with ‘Blank Project’, Cherry has leapt up several stepping stones, making this new record a return to form that many artists would achieve with a handful of albums. Herald the new age, as for a new generation, comes a new Neneh Cherry.
Oliver Evans
@ollierevans
Oliver Evans
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