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Stone returns older, wiser, sassier, funkier

Joss Stone releases her third album with a more mature sound.

By Shannon Jewitt, Senior Staff Writer
April 3, 2007

Vinnie Jones begins Introducing Joss Stone by waxing poetic about philosophy and change, eventually announcing, "And the truth is/ You gotta have the balls to change."

But I love Joss Stone just the way she is. I bought her last two albums for a reason. I belted out The Soul Sessions at the top of my lungs. I skipped down Ninth Street dancing to Mind, Body, & Soul. I plastered a poster of Stone on my bedroom wall. Then I contemplated how I could learn to sing like her and what non-surgical measures I could take to look like her. I developed a bit of a heterosexual crush on Stone. OK, maybe I was bordering on obsession, but can you really blame me? The point is, I loved Joss Stone as I had met her, and now she's changed on me.

Stone's appearance has changed over the years. The front cover displays her newly dyed red hair and her naked body covered in vibrant colored designs. Another photo shows Stone, a white woman, and a black man wrapped around one another wearing only painted patterns on their bodies.

Certainly, Stone has matured since her first release. The packaging of Introducing Joss Stone is reminiscent of Christina Aguilera's Stripped: Both albums strive to prove to the public that the artists have grown, and they want that reflected in their work.

Another photo on the album displays the back of Stone's legs, elevated in heels with the words "love" and "change" painted on either leg. These two words best summarize Stone's third release.

Fortunately, as much as the content of Stone's songs have changed, her sound remains the same. But each track has a twist.

"Girl They Won't Believe It" begins the album and evokes a Motown sound. The smooth track is the first of 12 tracks written by Stone.

The next track, "Headturner" sounds like a L'oreal commercial with the line "Cause we're worth it." But on a closer listen, the song shows off a more powerful, sassier version of the singer, with Stone announcing in the chorus, "Headturner yeah/ Soul burner/ Ya gonna watch me walk, then watch me walk/ Headturner yeah/ Are you a slow learner/ Come and take my hand/ Cause I'll find another man."

Later tracks feature numerous appearances from hip-hop stars. "Music" features Lauryn Hill, and "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now," a ballad in which Stone croons about being deeply in love, features Common. The track is far more mature than some of Stone's past efforts on the same subject.

Many other songs show Stone's new maturity. "Arms of My Baby" articulates her lovesickness and homesickness. "Bruised But Not Broken," "Bad Habit" and "What Were We Thinking" also reflect her newfound adulthood.

Much of the album, including the first single "Tell Me 'Bout It," is written by or features Raphael Saadiq, who also produced the album. Stone and Saadiq together produce a funky sound distinguishing Stone's past and present work.

The album concludes not with more wise words from Jones, but instead with Stone painfully belting out the love she has with music, singing. "Well I've been wasting all of my time/ 'Cause music's my Mr. Right."

Stone proves that line true throughout Introducing Joss Stone, an album I'm more than willing to skip down Ninth Street singing along to.

Campus Lodge

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