Alkemi

Al-Kemi is Cuban singer-songwriter Dayme Arocenas fifth album and first in five years. An award-winning jazz singer, she has expanded the Latin jazz tradition with her adventurous albums of acoustic improvisation and experimentation. Al-Kemi follows a difficult period for Arocena, who emigrated to Toronto after the release of 2019s Sonocardiogram and was stuck in isolation there during the pandemic. Depressed, she only listened to music that was simple, direct, and uplifting. A friend introduced her to Beyonces visual album Black Is King, and she found an affinity for its feminist and spiritual lyrics. Inspired, Arocena began writing pop songs. At the behest of her pianist, she sought out Calle 13s music director, Eduardo "Visitante" Cabra. She visited him in Puerto Rico to cut demos and ended up staying four months to complete the album. She ultimately emigrated there. The breezy, sultry opener, "Que Se Lo Lleve el Mar," a gorgeous prayer of longing for the sea, finds Arocena handling all the vocals (including the doo wop-styled intro), while Cabra played everything from mbira and percussion to electric guitars, keyboards, and samples. The single "Por Ti" indicts an estranged lover for emotional cruelty and gaslighting atop minor-key piano, layered Latin beats, bossa nova horns, and a hooky refrain. "Suave y Pegao" is a vocal duet with Rafa Pabon that seamlessly melds neo-soul, pop salsa and, in its horn chart, contemporary jazz. "Coda" is a dramatic R&B jam with strings and horns (both arranged by Arocena), piano, and samples. "American Boy" weds funky, staccato horns, popping snares and hi-hats, electric guitar, keyboards, and a devastating, heartbroken lyric appended by a sweet flute solo from Sheyla del Bosque. Vicente Garcia assists on noir-ish neo-soul/contemporary jazz single "A Fuego Lento" with sparse instrumentation, dubby beats, and gorgeously entwined vocals. The breezy, quietly passionate "El Amor la Esperanza" is sparsely arranged; elegant, contemporary R&B with subtle sampling, lithe beats, Wurlitzer, synth, and electric guitar mixed with the jazz vocal tradition. Arocena duets with herself as she croons in Spanish, "The love, the hope, that your kisses pour out/Overflowing passion with light/Your eyes are religion ...." Highlight "Como Vivir por El" weds ska, neo soul, and modern jazz in a meld of deep soul, bolero, and Afro-Caribbean beats. The final two tracks, "I Rather Let It Go" and "Die and Live Again," are sung in English. The former, with its bubbling hand percussion, Marisa Monte-esque melody, and elegant pianism are a manifesto that indicts machismo and celebrates feminist empowerment. The latter track weds modern jazz, neo soul balladry, Cuban son, and Latinized drumnbass to testify to the redemptive power of romantic love. Al-Kemi, like the Anglo word "alchemy," reflects transformation. Arocena set out to make a record that was more accessible to general listeners as a way of connecting with the history, legacy, and global influence of Black music. As such, it is relentlessly experimental in its canny approach to juxtaposing genres, instrumentation, beats, and grooves. ~ Thom Jurek