What We Lost is the impressive debut album from Vancouver-born (now Montréal-based) producer and artist, Janette King. I'm proud to confirm its also this weeks Dreaminisfree's Album of the Week.
There's definitely a familiar feel to her sound and if you were into American RnB in the 1990's, I'm thinking Mary J Blige, Janet Jackson, En Vogue, Lauryn Hill et al, then you're going to get this artist on your first listen.
The first track I heard from the album 'Cool Me Down', tells the story of putting your own needs first. The production on this track is stunning, from the first beat, I was hooked.
Janet King is absolutely not a rehash of the aforementioned artists though. Far from it. Drawing from RnB, funk and soul her tracks deal with the ending of a relationship; loosing close family; and the struggles with mental health and by default, a loss of the sense of self.
Speaking about the aforementioned track King said, "'Cool Me Down' is about staying focused on your goals and not letting anyone or anything come in the way of that. Covid has shown me that whatever I am envisioning for myself whether that be in my career, what type of life I want to live, or otherwise, only my belief in myself can crystallize those things. If I don't put into action those dreams in my head - they will never become reality and only I can do that for myself. If I am afraid of succeeding or if I allow the variable factors of life get in my way then I will surely fail."
For this listener the other stand out tracks on the album are 'You Don't Love Me', 'Unconditional', 'Right Here', 'Mirror' and definitely 'Ooh Yeah' - but to be honest they all just get better with every listen.
With an old soul voice, heartfelt lyrics and drawing influences from so many different genres, King has created a whole vibe of her own. A vibe that transcend old school RnB. It's easy to get lost in this album and as with every great album, that kinda the point.
What a trip!
Summing this album up in one word - transcendent!
For fans of Lava La Rue, Cleo Soul, Lianne La Havas, Poppy Adjudha.
Dreaminisfree always has and always will be free - Any artists looking to collaborate please email me debbie@dreaminisfree.co.uk