- A neat bit of synergy has occurred with Chaka Khan releasing her twelth studio album twelve years after her previous studio album. In that time, she’s faced a few demons, such as addiction to prescription medication, including the one that caused the death of Prince, whose unexpected passing had a deep affect on her. Taking time out to reassess things has proven to be beneficial, judging by the seven tracks on Hello Happiness. It’s a short essay as well – about the length of a standard prime-time sitcom, just twenty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome in the slightest.
Written and produced, in the main, with Switch (aka David Taylor formerly of Major Lazer and noted for his work with M.I.A.) and his stablemate Sarah Ruba Taylor, Khan’s powerful voice rolls through several genres: disco, funk, dirty RnB, even a bit of dubstep as well. The title track and album opener has all the hallmarks of classic disco that you think might have sprung out of the New York clubs of the '70s. It has a top-notch bass groove and several aural ornaments that keep you coming back for more, not least Khan’s sultry vocal line.
Speaking of sultry, Too Hot is everything it says it will be. A growling vocal that will have you fanning yourself even if the weather around you isn’t sticky with humidity. A powerful New Orleans like anthem to self-empowerment and kicking wastes-of-space to the kerb. Last year the first cut from what was to be her twelfth album was dropped on an unsuspecting public: Like Sugar leans heavily on an unabashed sample from Fatback Band's (Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop and includes Khan doing double duty on timbales as well (how’s that for value for money?). What that track showed was Chaka Khan was back and ready for the dance floor, helping assuage the pain of the last decade, particularly as the Western world is doing its best to go to Hell in a handcart.
No-one is going to guess that Chaka Khan is now sixty-six. There's no hint her voice has lost any of its power, range or ability to adapt to various styles. Isn’t That Enough burns with a slow reggae backbeat but again it drips with a smoky vibe of the clubs where fusion was never a dirty word, plus Khan unleashes those high and heavy notes she’s renowned for. There’s no way this lady is retiring, she’s still got what it takes and sashays out with Ladylike which is all tropical sunset breezes, cocktails and close dancing.
Tote it all up and what do you get? There’s a bit of new stuff here, however, a lot of older styles given a decent polish by Switch and Ruba Taylor. If you loved Chaka Khan in her Rufus vocalist hey-day, or her powering solo career of the 80s, you aren’t going to go away disappointed. Hello Happiness might be the antidote to the WTF world.
- Blair Martin.