Album Review: Lady Wray's 'Queen Alone'

2016
11 songs
Length: 34:53
Available to buy on vinyl or CD or digital download

I first heard Lady Wray’s second studio album Queen Alone a few weeks ago and could have sworn it was a Motown release, circa 1960s-70s. It’s a sweet, soul record with a classic vintage sound.

Wray’s voice is powerful with an impressive range and a gospel sound, which is unsurprising given her church upbringing. Released by Brooklyn based Big Crown Records, Queen Alone is Wray’s first solo album since her 1998 release Make It Hot and is quite a departure from her debut, which was produced by Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Make It Hot is contemporary R&B, much closer to hip hop than the retro soul of her latest offering.

The album’s opening track ‘It’s Been a Long Time’ sets the tone with a classic big horn, drum and guitar driven Motown sound. The call-and-response singing style and perfectly arranged backing vocals, also quintessentially Motown, is a big feature too, and perfectly executed on songs including the easy going ‘They Won't Hang Around,’ the cheerful ‘Smiling’ and ‘Guilty,’ which is arguably my favourite track on the album.

Wray’s voice is smooth and strong, reminiscent of soul queen, Aretha Franklin. She has a range and a warmth that is delightful and heartfelt, while being versatile too. Her voice is perfectly suited to the big band sound; as evidenced by the passionately belted out ‘Bad Girl’, just as much as it is to the slower, sultrier, jazzier number ‘Make Me Over’. It has a sweetness to it, most notable on the retro pop ditty ‘In Love (Don’t Mess Things Up)’. But it's also commanding and sassy on the swamp pop tune ‘Underneath My Feet’.

Queen Alone is a fantastic album that marks Lady Wray as a fantastic retro soul artist to watch. I can’t recommend this one enough!