February 27th, 2007 3:03pm
This Girl’s Got Things She Needs To Do
Joss Stone "Put Your Hands On Me" - Joss Stone never inspired any enthusiasm from me before -- her voice is strong but generic, and she seemed to be going out of her way to win cred points with the dullest sort of mainstream pop fans. Her music was inoffensive and generally dull, the sort of thing that you can hear and tune out, or maybe enjoy just enough to ask "hey, who is this?," get the answer, and then totally forget about it the next day. This song, on the other hand, is quite fun. It's extremely corny and not especially original, but Stone is utterly unashamed, and embraces its cheesiness wholeheartedly. Her collaborator Raphael Saadiq is clearly mimicking Rich Harrison's "1 Thing" and DJ Premier's "Ain't No Other Man," and though the track and the vocal performance do not reach the incredible heights of either song, it's a worthy tune, and I'm glad to hear another song in the style much in the same way that I'm likely to enjoy any reasonably successful copy of the Pixies' formula. Aside from the obvious affectations, she reminds me a lot of early '90s Mariah Carey on this recording. She sounds completely overwhelmed by infatuation, and totally amped to be singing. Her pure pleasure in the act of performing is obvious and it elevates a song that would otherwise just be pretty good to something kinda thrilling and special. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)
2/27/07 8:40 pm
I got a second-rate Amy Winehouse vibe from this…I can’t decide if I like it. I’ve always kind of felt that Joss was trying too hard, but maybe I need to reconsider?
2/27/07 9:01 pm
I think that you would not be wrong about her trying really hard on other stuff, but this seems to be in the right zone. I think a problem with the older stuff is that there was this vibe that she and her collaborators were trying to prove to you how real and genuine and different and cool she was, but it was never convincing, and really just seemed more artificial in a way. That White Stripes cover is especially cringe-inducing.
5/21/07 12:43 am
Know it’s quite late to write this comment, but I’m just catching up on some of your old posts and stumbled upon your note on a band sounding like Pixies. Well, the Swedes in Hell On Wheels actually do that (even though their never stuff are turning away from the exact “Pixies-formula”). Check them out at: http://www.myspace.com/hellonwheelss