It’s 11 years since Kelis did Milkshake and in the years since, she’s pretty much done what she wants musically. 2010’s sparkly ‘Fleshtone’ LP was the result of someone who had taken a disinterest in R’n B and had fallen in love with robots instead.
Four years later, Kelis Rogers is a trained saucier, signed to Ninja Tune with an album called ‘Food’ because her studio is next to her kitchen. While that’s a great on a press release, it’s irrelevant if the record isn’t up to the (taste) test.
Thankfully, Food doesn’t have a bad moment. ‘Jerk Ribs’ (above) is the obvious lead single off the record and has a hook that’s so funky it wouldn’t go amiss on a Stevie Wonder track, .
It’s also inexplicably ridiculous in places, ‘Friday Fish Fry’ has some ‘She needs ice cold water’ gang vocals like Kelis is a glass of Kool-aid, but such absurdities do bring a smile too. And well, smiles are great.
‘Change’ sounds like a dramatic Doritos commercial with its spaghetti western trumpets and hummed melody, but again it’s fabulous, and most importantly it’s all distinctively Kelis doing her own thing.
Some of the song titles alone are enough to catch your attention eg, ‘Biscuits ‘n’ Gravy’, but it’s the warm and enjoyable nature that is the real appeal and while Food probably won’t change the face of current R’n’B it certainly deserves to be blasted round the kitchen at a lofty volume.