True
Solange Knowles
Terrible Records
***
Solange Knowles has never been content to sit in her sister Beyoncé's immense shadow. Her critically acclaimed 2008 debut Sol-Angel and the Hadley St Dreams showed the world that Solange is the antithesis of Beyoncé – more hipster than coiffed diva.
After hobnobbing on the indie circuit and morphing into a fashion-world darling, Solange returns to music with her seven-track album
True. Solange's incontestably complex voice takes centre stage on this art-house pop record that sees the 26-year-old melding genres and experimenting vocally.
The whimsical beat of the first single Losing You juxtaposes with its melancholic subject matter, resulting in a kind of sonic substance that permeates this disc. The many facets of her voice shine in the 1980s-esque ballad Lovers In the Parking Lot.
Bad Girls (Verdine Version) has an undeniable Prince influence – the vocal runs will give you chills (and Beyoncé a run for her money). True is a memorably experimental pop record that sees Solange finally coming into her own.
