British soul singer Joss Stone is back with her seventh studio album ‘Water For Your Soul’, set for release on July 17th.
The follow up to 2012’s ‘The Soul Sessions Vol.2’, the LP represents a musical departure for Stone. Infused with elements of reggae, ‘world’ sounds, hip hop and of course, soul, the self written and co-produced ‘Water For Your Soul’ sees Joss venturing into previously unexplored territory – collaborating with the likes of Nitin Sawney, Damian Marley and Dennis Bovell.
‘Water For Your Soul’ is the fruits of her travels in sound, demonstrating how the teen soul prodigy has blossomed into an artist of style and substance. It is an album that pulses with the liquid groove of reggae, dazzles with the mix and match sonic adventure of hip hop, shimmers with the exotic sounds of world music and delivers the emotional belt of R’n’B. “It’s really a combination of all the things I like,” explains Joss.
The album has been four years in gestation, the product of world travels, emotional adventures, and smoky jams with reggae royalty. A core musical strand can be traced back to LA sessions for Dave Stewart and Mick Jagger’s project Superheavy, on which Stone collaborated with Jamaican superstar Damian Marley. Says Joss: “I’ve always loved reggae and Damian gave me the confidence to go through that door”.
One of the record’s standout tracks and the first single to be taken from the album is ‘The Answer’, a cut featuring snappy percussion, a funky guitar line, gospel BV’s and Joss’ trademark soulful vocal. The track was co – written with legendary reggae maestro Dennis Bovell. Speaking about Bovell’s qualities and influence on the record in general, Joss says, “He’s like a reggae encyclopaedia. And he can really sing. His pitch and range is massive. He’s funny too, a great person to work with”.
The album’s 14 tracks span the break-up of one love affair (‘Let Me Breathe’) and the beginning of another (‘Stuck On You’). ‘Stuck On You’ will be available as an ‘instant grat’ from May 11th with all album pre-orders. Many of the songs on the record were co-written with long – term collaborator Jonathan Shorten and it represents some of her most mature and cohesive work to date. “If there is a theme to the album, it springs out of conversations, arguments, ideas about ways of living in the world. It’s about shaking off all the crap and getting up and realising that hey you’re alive today, so move on.”
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