With a career that’s spent the past decade moving from one disappointment to the other, it’s fair to say expectations weren’t high for VV Brown’s second album. It arrives this week with very little fanfare, but ends up being one of the most surprisingly unique albums of recent years.
Brown first came to prominence in 2005 with a lightweight R&B single named Whipped, which ultimately got her nowhere. This was followed by the much hyped 2009 debut album Travelling Like The Light, which ended up being underwhelming both commercially and critically despite containing the formidable Shark In The Water. Its follow-up was initially titled Lollipops & Politics and slated for a release last year, but was cancelled because ‘it didn’t feel right as an artist’ for her. Brown has clearly struggled to carve herself an identity in both style and sound, but this album finally seems to put an end to this. Whilst her tweets and interviews would suggest she remains as ambitious as ever, it’s also clear that she’s ignoring outside influences and current trends, and is instead concentrating on making an album that’s often very dark and experimental, with clear influences from the likes of Grace Jones and Bjork.
The album is based around a biblical concept, with the church organs and her often operatic vocals helping to successfully portray this, whilst being happily mixed with a more traditional disco beat. Opening track Substitute For Love is one of the slowest songs here, but sets the ethereal atmosphere perfectly as it weaves its way into the listener’s consciousness, whilst Samson (which seemed so underwhelming when released as a single earlier this year) now makes perfect sense with its eruptive bass line.
The thumping chorus of current single The Apple is a highlight and it’s certainly a radio friendly yet well-crafted track, but ultimately this album doesn’t really lend itself to solid single campaigns. It flows excellently as one body of work, and as Samson proved, separating the tracks means their haunting effect can’t really be appreciated in their best form. Elsewhere, Igneous packs a pumping chorus, whilst the likes of Faith and Knife contain beautifully heartfelt lyrics that really show how much her songwriting has matured over the years. There isn’t a single weak track present, with her occasionally overproduced vocals being the only possible criticism.
Ultimately it’s clear to see that Brown has invested a lot of time, energy and passion into Samson & Delilah, making the most of the artistic freedom she gained from releasing on her own label. It’s certainly paid off, because whilst the album probably won’t make much chart impact, it stands out as sounding like nothing else around right now, and is probably one of the most important releases of the year.
