Emily's D+evolution

"Spalding's talent and creativity (...) continues to blossom in Emily's D+Evolution, a project based on a song cycle and theatrical production prepared for live performance. It unveils yet another layer into her - outlandish modern art-pop swirled with funk, poetry, and some Jimi Hendrix psychedelia thrown in for good measure. Centered on an alter ego which happens to be Spalding's middle name, Emily has come out to perform in a music playground that might be described as a 21rst century Alice in Wonderland complete with adventures".

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"The jazz singer and bassist - and former Grammy "Best New Artist" - has created a beyond category masterpiece that sounds better than if Joni Mitchell hired Living Colour as her band and then grafted it all onto a hip-hop sensibility of sorts".

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" Emily's D+Evolution is not a jazz album - though jazz does inform much of the music here. Instead, Spalding (...) builds the release largely around angular, electric guitar-rich prog rock, kinetic, rhythmically rich jazz fusion, and lyrically poetic pop. Of course, Spalding's version of pop is never predictable, always harmonically inventive, and frequently imbued with as many improvisational moments as possible within the boundaries of a given song. But relative to her previous releases, this is still a significant shift".

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"People will likely call this art-rock or performance art, but D+Evolution advocates an almost indescribable ethos. There are cues from Thundercat and Flying Lotus here, as well as nods to folk-rock, funk, and prog. Listening to "Judas" or "Rest In Pleasure," you could imagine an alternate universe where the Dirty Projectors explored jazz fusion without too much effort, and the exuberant vocal whoops and dense arrangements won't faze tUnE-yArDs listeners. The harmonic language remains rooted in jazz, but like Emily herself, the music doesn't seem to be "from" anywhere: It seems most concerned with establishing space, creating room for possibility ... The lyrics are elusive at first, darting behind fast-moving songs and delivered in impressionistic, conversational bursts that recall the delivery of Joni Mitchell. But the fearless generosity behind them communicates itself loud and clear, and it's a spirit that animates the entire album. With it, Spalding has once againredefinedan already singular career, dictating a vision entirely on her own terms".

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"[Spalding's] most high-concept album yet (...) focuses on her vocals, with their wily melodic turns, personal poetry, spoken-word chatters and skewed R&B hooks. But even if they are pop songs, a few could have been composed by Wayne Shorter, and Spalding's voice has never sounded so assured in its dizzying ascents from mid-range murmurs to falsetto swoops. Her singing variously suggests Kate Bush, Janelle Monae or even a female Jack Bruce with a 21st-century Cream".

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"A jazz prodigy's prog-rock opera about love and identity".

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