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Joss Stone captivates with new look, joyous sound
02/01/2007 10:34 PM, Reuters
Darryl Morden
When she made her debut
several years back at only 15, Brit belter Joss Stone was an
instant wow, a young girl mining soul's past with a voice
beyond her years.
Now 19, with a stunning new album, "Introducing Joss
Stone," due in March, she's proving to be the true heiress to
Aretha Franklin as this generation's queen of soul. Her
sold-out show Wednesday at the Sunset Strip House of Blues not
only drummed up interest in the upcoming release, it announced
that she most definitely has arrived as a superstar.
After an intro instrumental from her soul revue-style band,
led by producer Raphael Saadiq, that included horns and backing
singers, a new Stone took the stage. This wasn't the blond girl
next door of past years; she sported a whole new look of long,
permed magenta hair and wore a tight gold and silver minidress.
She was instantly captivating.
But the new look was all in play, without any pretense, and
it wasn't too long before she kicked off her high-heeled pumps
to sing her favorite way: barefoot. Giddily sprinkling some
glitter on the crowd up front like a soul-shoutin' Tinker Bell
and saying, "I'm a proper girly-girl," she wowed the audience
with a mix of new numbers that were more than well received,
along with a few songs from her first two albums.
There were echoes of Holland-Dozier-Holland Supremes and
Honey Cone, Al Green and, of course, Lady Soul herself, but
this was not a retro retreat; the music also included
contemporary hip-hop and R&B elements in numbers like the
bouncy "Girls, You Won't Believe It" and the slinky, heartbeat
pulse of "Music."
She was joyous for the night's centerpiece, the groove-deep
"Super Duper Love," while such new songs as the churning, hooky
"What Were We Thinking" and summertime-breezy pledge of "Tell
Me What We're Gonna Do Now" already sounded like future hits
ready to follow her advance single, the irresistible,
struttin', Staple Singers-style "Tell Me 'Bout It," which came
near the end of the hour-plus set.
Unlike today's so-called "divas" -- and we know who they
are -- Stone doesn't engage in grating histrionics. Sure, she
can wail away and go from whisper to roof-raising in seconds,
but she's never over the top. This Stone's a gem, and she's
shining bright.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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