Lalah Hathaway
VANTABLACK
Hathaway Entertainment/SRG/ILS Group
Listen Below
There’s a biased predisposition to associate darker skin with malice, evil, or negativity. Researchers call it the “Black is Bad” effect. Proving herself an alchemist and activist, Lalah Hathaway has been hard at work developing its cure. “Trying to make the skin I'm in a sin,” she protests over the soulful guitar-pop of the obsidian title track. “Take it all back and start again / Melanin rising, don't be mad / I want everything VANTABLACK.”
Titling her latest opus after a material that can absorb 99.965% of visible light hitting it, VANTABLACK is an odyssey of urban alternative, dance, and progressive jazz affirming life, love, and the embodiment of Hathaway’s full spectrum of being. This, her first album in seven years, she regards as “a deeply personal examination of my relationship with my Blackness, my place in this country, and how embracing the different facets of my identity has allowed me to feel the most authentic version of myself.”
For such a diverse project, its soundcraft has limited architects. The largest swath of credit goes to Phil Beaudreau (Justin Bieber, Ledisi) and relative newcomer Juan Ariza (Dua Lipa, Ashley Kutcher). Both bring an informed, complex musicality to their work, and Hathaway herself guides as a producer on nearly every track.
Knowing that her audience responds to grown, sexy sentiments, she aims right for them on the buoyant lead-off “So in Love.” This Beaudreau cut is accompanied by a heartwarming, fashion-forward video clip celebrating all things affectionate, whether romantic, familial, or self-love. It’s “Mood for You,” however, that plunges Hathaway gloriously into the sensual. This wavy groove produced by church-bred R&B veterans Warryn Campbell and Eric Dawkins is likely to awaken more than your ears with its “Rock the Boat” eroticism á la Aaliyah.
After impressive contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and every installment of Robert Glasper’s album series up to Black Radio III (2022), Hathaway has captured a sound worthy of her status. Though far from a “jazz” record, she deploys her scatting ability frequently. Hip-hop is well represented too. After demonstrating that she can ride harder tracks on the hypermodern, perpendicular R&B of Honestly (2017), it’s native to hear Rapsody and Common set a jazzy-poetic tone on “Black.” MC Lyte blesses the aforementioned “Mood for You” with her inimitable style. Taking it up a notch, The Foreign Exchange’s Phonte matches witty wordplay and comedic timing with Hathaway on “You Don’t Know,” a retro-future soul showcase for both talents.
Listen to the Album:
If you heard “Mirror,” quietly tucked away on Lalah Hathaway Live (2015), the seed of its plea to “love yourself” and “stop hiding yourself” fully blossoms on VANTABLACK. Railing against the scourge of false humility is the irreverently endearing “#BITMFW.” While diehard fans may bristle at its expletives, the resultant self-esteem is sugary sweet, decorated in cascading 808s, and worth every clutched pearl. This celebration of self continues on the ebullient nu-disco of “I Am,” yet another gem tailor made for singing to oneself. This fresh, fearless energy is key to the sparkle of VANTABLACK.
Similarly, “Higher” is a pseudo-gospel rave that likens a discordant life to dancing on the 1 and 3 beats instead of the 2 and 4. (If one needs a reference, Prince explains in detail on 1999’s “D.M.S.R.”) This sweaty neon workout elevates Hathaway’s gentle rasp. Later on, we discover the cool-down reprise “Lower” rebuilds its elements into an avant garde jazz coda assisted by famed saxophonist Gerald Albright.
Apart from its optimism, VANTABLACK is at its best exploring subterranean secret places on its underside. Aquatic metaphors and sonic textures mark pathways to healing (“Returning”) and the pursuit of wonder (“Tunnels” featuring Willow Smith). The Chicago daughter of soul ponders her existence on the irresistible acoustic plod of “The Machine” (first teased in December 2021) and electro-soul climax “Clearly.” Coffee-colored buzz single “The Energy” as well takes full advantage of Hathaway’s delicious contralto on its enveloping, bassy refrain.
Hathaway excels at capturing an effect that blooms over time—which is an odd thing to appreciate when pop music has our attention spans in a chokehold. After 30 seconds of a new song on Instagram, we may decide based on hype whether it’s the “song of the summer.” I noticed after my second full listen, VANTABLACK’s frequencies started to penetrate, warm through, nurture, and develop for me in ways that didn’t initially register the first time around.
That said, VANTABLACK may be her most accessible album to date and its influences are multitudinous. Though a daring project like Where It All Begins (2011) was able to touch upon hip-hop, dance, soul, jazz, pop, and folk, it’s on VANTABLACK that these elements seamlessly integrate and balance. The listen is smooth and we gently glide. These are not the R&B/jazz safewaters of her first two discs (1990’s Lalah Hathaway and 1994’s A Moment). She is now displaying her fullest self—black, blacker, blackest.
VANTABLACK may seem imposing at first, but if you break it open, the light is inside.
Notable tracks: “#BITMFW” | “Higher” | “The Machine” | “Mood for You”
LISTEN: