NEW YORK – When Joss Stone hit the stage at a concert hall recently, it was clear long before she opened her mouth that something had changed.
Gone were the long gypsy skirts and T-shirts she favored only a couple of years ago. Gone even was the English-born singer’s trademark long, wavy blond hair and bare feet.
Instead, Stone wore eye glitter, a white miniskirt, thigh-high boots and a shimmering, clingy tank top. Her hair was dark with pink streaks and it was big – kinked out to an inch of her life.
“I need a little lovin’ at least two times a day,” she purred, kicking off “Tell Me ‘Bout It,” the first single from her new album. “So when I call you, boy, you better run here right away.”
Pardon?
The vampy outfit, the too-much-information lyrics, even naked photos for the CD – all triggered a question: What happened to our lovable, soul-singing hippie chick?
“People grow. It’s OK to grow,” she said later in an interview. “Some people find that difficult to grasp. It’s like, ‘You’re not allowed to change. That’s not fair. We like you like this.’ But I don’t. So let me expand and express myself.”
Stone performs Thursday at the Paramount in Seattle.
That new visual coincides with the release of the now-20-year-old’s third CD, a declaration of independence underlined by its title “Introducing Joss Stone.”
“It is me introducing myself as a singer, songwriter, producer – as a full artist, not just a singer anymore,” she said. “Musically, it’s more me.”
That means a dose of sex, ’70s-style R&B and infectious beats – all guided by veteran producer Raphael Saadiq. It’s the album she says she always wanted to make but didn’t have the power.
“I spoke to my dad the other day and he said, ‘Joss, I’m just listening to your album and it’s funny because the first two were like glass-of-wine-at-night kind of albums. This one, I get up in the morning and I put it on and I wake up to this. It’s fresher,’” she said. “I’m like ‘Yeah, Dad, that’s because the first two were made by 70-year-olds and this one’s made by a 19-year-old.’”
So far, Americans seem like the new stuff. “Introducing Joss Stone” debuted at No. 2 with sales of 118,000, the highest-charting new entry ever by a British female artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era.
“She single-handedly wrote and co-arranged every song on this album,” said Chris Anokute, senior director of A&R Capitol Music Group, which owns her label, Virgin. “She is the executive producer on the record. At 19 years old to executive produce a record? That’s rare.”
In her homeland, though, Stone is getting nothing but grief. Newspapers there have been unrelenting about her nervous appearance at the recent Brit Awards, her weird hair, her odd-sounding accent and her alleged relationships with male collaborators.
“When they see that you’re kind of getting somewhere, they say, ‘Oh, hell no. We have control over you,’” Stone said of the once-fawning press that helped make her into a star.
Blessed with the voice of Aretha Franklin marinated in Johnny Walker, Stone grew up in southern England and wanted her debut CD to sound a little like “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”
Her label, however, had other plans. Over her objections, it first released 2003’s “The Soul Sessions” – a 10-song collection of mostly little-known R&B songs from the ’60s and ’70s.
Her second offering, 2005’s platinum-selling “Mind, Body &Soul,” which she had started writing when she was just 14, turned out a little too pop for her taste – again despite her protests.
Soon, it was her turn.
“There were no limits on this one,” she said.
Associated Press
Joss Stone performs Thursday in Seattle.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
