Album Review: Alicia Keys - Alicia (2020)

As I get older I find I’m getting more entrenched in my listening habits, always reaching for the tried and trusted, and all too readily dismissing the musical styles or genres I have no real affinity for. In short, placing self-imposed boundaries on the stuff I’m willing to expose myself to.

There’s a multitude of reasons not to listen to modern R&B … not least autotune, commercial radio saturation, and a wider sense that today’s sounds bear little relation to those heard during the genre’s 1960s/1970s heyday - think of legendary artists like Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. 

Alicia Keys, however, is not one of those reasons. In fact, as things stand in 2020, she might just be the saviour of the genre. 

While I have no doubt many tunes from Keys’ latest album, Alicia, will have been subjected to that pesky commercial radio saturation thing - with seven singles lifted from it so far - I was hugely relieved, possibly even thrilled, to discover that there is very little autotune (a pet hate) on the album. If any at all. 

And it strikes this old greybeard that sure enough, much of it appeals as an authentic and genuine throwback to the aforementioned halcyon days of R&B and soul. One day in the not-too-distant future, we will surely rank Keys right up there with the likes of Gaye and Ross. If she’s not there already. It isn’t always the case that “things were way better in the old days”. 

Put simply, Alicia is a superb album. Full of quality tunes, powerful socially conscious lyrics, and even those radio-friendly hooks don’t grate too much. It’s full of life-affirming positivity, introspection, and self-empowerment. All good things. And a solid supporting cast, with names like Jill Scott, Sampha, Khalid, and Miguel all contributing at various points. 

It takes something quite special to bring a confirmed sceptic who sits well beyond Keys’ regular target demographic into the fold. But Alicia is *that* good. Universal and broad in appeal. Widescreen and inclusive. 

During a year full of (mostly extremely downbeat) surprises, this was one of the better ones. And the fact that your blogger is going on record to throw praise at an album that sits within a genre he usually avoids like the plague itself, only goes to show what a topsy-turvy world it is. 

Need further proof but don’t necessarily want to listen to the whole album? … try these tracks: ‘Underdog’, ‘Good Job’, ‘Time Machine’, ‘Jill Scott’, and ‘Wasted Energy’. But really, do listen to the whole thing. Even you might be surprised.