The two versions of Alicia Keys

December 10, 2021 Alicia Keys releases his eighth album onto the market, “Keys”. A disc that is made up of two parts: the first named ‘Originals’described as “the classic, back-to-basics side” of the New York singer’s soul; while the second, ‘Unlocked’ it’s “a completely different sound experience.” Below is the album review he wrote for us Michele Boroni three years ago.

20 years have passed since the debut of Songs in A Minor and in all this time Alicia Keys has gone through all the phases of an artist: the overwhelming debut, the oceanic crowds, at least three-four iconic and unforgettable pieces, the moment of loss, recovery and full awareness as a woman and as an artist, well represented by the last two albums, Here and Alicia. Now the New York singer is in the bold and hyper-prolific phase. During the lockdown she published her autobiography, launched a skincare brand, recorded some featuring, was a testimonial for some brands, starred in a docuseries on Youtube with her husband and announced her first graphic novel. In all of this she also managed to record this “Keys”, her eighth album.

This is not a record like any other. “Keys” is in fact a double disc, an hour and a half long and made up of 26 tracks: in reality they are more or less the same songs played twice, the first in the basic “Originals” version and the second in the “Unlocked” version in a sort of contemporary and fashionable remix in co-production with Mike Will Made It, already a collaborator with Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar. Unlike other operations of this kind – perhaps someone will remember “Up!” by Shania Twain which in 2002 was released in pop, country and Bollywood versions – in this “Keys” things are not so well defined.

Of course, on the ‘Originals’ album there is a prevalence of more essential arrangements with the piano at the forefront, but there are not always these great differences with the “Unlocked” version. More than anything the “Originals” album begins with “Plentiful” an excellent piece with Pusha T, based on the beat of “The Truth” by Beanie Sigel, one of Kanye West’s first productions, based on the sample of “Chicago” by Stephen Stills , and there is no “Unlocked” version.

There are other parts that are not very clear: the “Originals” versions have neither the raw quality of the demos, nor the compositional strength of the “unplugged” sessions, on the other hand the “Unlocked” versions are decidedly livelier than the “Originals”, often but without being radically different.

“Originals” focuses more on the MOR and smooth jazz side of Keys. Here, for example, the somewhat James Bond orchestration of “Nat King Cole” makes it an elegant piece, ruined in the second version by Lil Wayne’s bars. “Old Memories” is a retro soul standard à la Keys that transforms on “Unlocked” into a piece with the beat of Whitney Houston’s “I wanna dance with somebody”. On the other hand, the darker and more industrial “Unlocked” versions of “Daffodils” and “Best of me” are interesting, which was already a good piece in the “originals” version. The rest is all a bit already heard and certainly doesn’t have the expressive and productive strength as well as the precise design inspiration of the previous two albums.

In short, operations like this are intriguing only if they work perfectly, but if the defects are added together they risk being a missed opportunity. What remains is a long album which, with the double version game, will certainly work very well on streaming platforms, but which in the end seems to tell less about Keys’s immense talent and more about a producer’s ability to improve or worsen a song.