Originally scheduled for release on March 20 and rescheduled to May 15, RCA Records' Alicia Keys finally dropped her self-titled album “ALICIA.” Amidst the pandemic, the seventh album has been available for streaming on September 18 as awaited by fans.  

Progressing towards telling a more personal story, Keys has talked about how strongly she identified with herself with this album that she had to name it “ALICIA,” she shared in an interview with Apple Music.

In comparison with her 2016 album “HERE,” where she explored themes of caring and community fashioned in gritty R&B, the tone of ALICIA lets one journey through the singer’s own experiences in finding her voice while telling stories that anyone can relate to in their journey—self-love, passion, and breaking free expressed in a diverse and quiet combination of R&B, pop, reggae, and EDM that surprisingly fit well together.

Symphonies for self-discovery

Known for being raw and authentic with her work already, Keys drops the bomb that she had felt she was stuck in this people-pleasing phase for most of her career since she started at the age of 14.

The first track, “Truth Without Love,” sets the mood as Keys’ play on words and rhymes points to a general summary of the key theme that echoes throughout the rest of the album. “All in time, one day you’ll find that truth without love is just a lie.”

Among her singles, “Underdog” was a fan-favorite as it tells the truth of stories any passerby has likely seen in their daily routine. This track is a motivation for those who are often overlooked, sending a message that everyone has their own life to live and their own story to be told, if only we take a chance to know them. 

“So Done” featuring Khalid is one of the lighter songs that speaks for itself despite the repetitive lyrics, all which brilliantly connects to the album’s succeeding track “Gramercy Park;” both shedding light on the effects of desperately wanting to please everyone around you and breaking out of that.

Concluding with “Good Job,” a surprisingly timely song that Keys had apparently written a year ago with no knowledge of the context of today, the track is an affirmation to everyone who has been working so hard that they are seen and noticed.

Other tracks in ALICIA coherently depict the highs and lows of Keys’ journey in finding her own voice, the conviction and confusion that she has felt in being in the industry for so long, and only standing her ground as to becoming who she wants to be now. 

Supplementary recommendations:

• “3 hour drive (ft. Sampha)” serves as somewhat of a break in between the theme of the song with its chill and mellow beats. Its final lyrics, “Heart on my sleeve, no enemy is more than I can take” still tugs at heartstrings as it takes on a feeling of courage in securing oneself, but never going through the process alone.
• In an intimate and soulful sound, “You Save Me (ft. Snoh Aalegra)” is the gradual falling action of the album as it looks back in gratitude of how you got to where you are now. Translating a promise between two people who have shared the trials of it with, “Did you know that you save me? Because we’ve been through it all.” 
• It’s no Alicia Keys album if there is no song that takes on such a vivid experience that not everyone goes through, but have definitely heard of. “Perfect Way to Die” is the perfect eye-opener—direct, literal, painful, and heartfelt—telling the story of a mother who has her son gunned down.

Needless to say, no track in this album is worth skipping; each song put together takes the narrative into a more complete and empowering picture of self-discovery and love that Alicia Keys is trying to share.

Stream ALICIA on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube.

Rating: 4.8/5