Review: "BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US" Album by Jessie Reyez
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Jessie Reyez is one of those artists who carries on the legacy of Amy Winehouse with her distinct and haunting voice. Her most swoon-worthy song on the new album, “BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US” would have to be the eerie “COFFIN,” featuring Eminem with a swaying guitar ode that’s the perfect bare canvas for Jessie’s goosebump-inducing voice.
As she repeatedly croons, “I’d rather a coffin handmade for two, cause I love you to death, just like a fool,” she makes toxic love sound sweeter than candy, and we’re completely drinking the Kool-Aid. As the song goes on, it’s hard not to immerse yourself in the center, envisioning a live band performing this timeless tune.
Eminem’s feature wakes it up a little bit and adds some edge, but this is still definitely Miss Jessie’s song, on which even legendary Em is a guest. Then again, who better to feature on a song about toxic and self-destructive relationships?
“DEAF (WHO ARE YOU)” who are you showcases a harder side of Jessie as she experiments with rap. Regardless of the lyrics (which are generally less thought-provoking than her more melodic tracks) when she delivers it in that high-pitched raspy voice, it’s hard not to be seduced. It’s catchy as hell, but not as deep as some of the other members of this track list.
Intruders chills things out and brings it back to a mellow place that conjures images of “The Girl from Ipanema.” The island style, Bossa Nova inspired feels like a lullaby, even as she ruthlessly tells listeners about the dangerous consequences that her love can have: “So please no intruders, I kill all intruders, ‘cause my love is ruthless, so please no intruders.”
Reyez hands us her heart on a platter again with “ANKLES”, staying vulnerable while boasting how other girls can’t even measure up to her ankles. As she reminisces on a disloyal past lover, she reclaims that self-worth and respect through the knockout hook: Lights out, strike out, I doubt you’ll ever find anyone, these bitches can’t measure up to my ankles.”
When you think of Jessie and her slowed down angst, you don’t tend to think of party bangers, but “DOPE” completely changed out mind on that one. This bright, cut-up party anthem blends eclectic inspirations like Moombahton trap, EDM and ballroom voguing music. If we ever get to have a summer 2020, this is going to be its anthem.
“LOVE IN THE DARK” is a soaring piano ballad that establishes itself as an instant classic in the same vein of Adele and Beyonce, but “FIGURES” is the heart-wrenching slow-dance song that Jessie delivers to us in a 1960s style tribute to regret and raw, open wounds of the soul.
According to “BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US”, this is just the beginning for an already explosive singer with a whole lot under her belt and a keen ability to evolve.