It was just last week Solange teased us with images from her album and dropped a release date (March 1st). Naturally, the internet was thrown into a frenzy as music lovers and her fans had been patiently waiting for a follow-up to her stunning classic, A Seat At The Table. 

When I Get Home is an avant-garde approach to music. It’s not as gripping as A Seat At The Table; instead, it is intriguing.  It’s a musical map of her journeying back to her home city Houston and a musical depiction of everything Houston is to her. Solange stays authentic to her home as she gives her own contemporary rendition of the revolutionary “chopped and screwed” sound created by late Houston-producer, DJ Screw. Solange uses this as a source of inspiration throughout the album and pays homage to him in the Not Screwed! (Interlude). From the distorted choice of  jazz chords, to the drawn out psychedelic-like beats which sound like a heavy southern drawl, this album has DJ Screw all over it. On Almeda, Pharrell’s production comes together with Solange’s gentle vocals and Playboy Carti’s baby-like autotune filled voice to create intergalactic space vibes. The unlikely team gives the album an impressive edge.

All 19 tracks are unique experiences within themselves. The albums opener, Things I Imagined, consists of Solange merely repeating “I Saw Things I Imagined” until the record stops just shy of 2 minutes. Solange keeps with this theme repetition on Almeda, as her lullaby like voice praises black beauty and ownership “brown skin, brown face, black skin, black braids”. When I Get Home is not to be consumed in haste. The music is almost in motion as each track seamlessly bleeds into the next. If Solange successfully sends you into a daze, it is easy to suddenly find yourself half-way through the album without realising.

When compared to ASATB, Solange doesn’t say much. Not in the regard that her lyrics lack substance, but that there are so few of them. On most tracks she barely has a verse, let alone a verse and a chorus. At a hefty 19 tracks, the album runs just shy of 39 minutes as Solange opts for songs and interludes which are under typically under 2 minutes. This causes the album to feel incomplete.

Fans like myself who considered ASATT a classic were disappointed by this follow-up. But this poses the question of how new albums should be consumed. Do we listen to albums in complete isolation? Or do we use prior albums as a yardstick of an artists progression and commitment to their style. The two albums are very dissimilar but there was no obligation for Solange to make them identical. Shouldn’t it be within an artists power to completely change their style?

All that said, the cyclical nature of the album is beautiful . The final track, I’m A Witness loops perfectly back into the album’s opener, Things I Imagined. When I get Home is effortless but very intentional. Solange is artistically fearless; whether it’s her working with Sampha on Time Is or Gucci Mane on My Skin My Logo, Solange is able to incorporate her unique sound of blues, soul, funk and R&B into a body of work.

When I Get Home available on all streaming platforms now!