Silky Smoooth.

I'm just discovering Q-Tip's new album and already I love what I hear. Of particular interest is any hip-hop song that nails the rhyme crossed with female vocals blend.

Whenever that participating female is Norah Jones, the song is instantaneously rated higher in my book. Some of my previous posts have touched on her work prior to stardom as the ambient vocaiist for Wax Poetic. While hardly hip-hop, Jones' ultra-smooth voice added so much texture to music that was already so full of interesting sounds.

In this song, her voice functions a bit differently. There is less noise, less electronic fuzz, and a sensibility-oriented back-beat. Every note sung by Jones is deliberate in that exact part of the song. Sure, her lines may repeat, but I never develop a sense of boredom even if I hear the same thing over and over again.

What I'm really loving is the note selection.

Wow.

Normally I associate the feel of a song with the way I would witness it live. So, something from Jack Johnson might occur at a beach as your group enjoys a camp-fire. But I'm having trouble making that same kind of association -- too many interesting situations are popping into my head to decide on any one in particular. Silky smoky jazz club, control room of a studio, night driving through Boston, a walk with my isolation plugs -- all of these situations totally plausible, absolutely awesome, and unrankable.

But there are other elements helping out the vocals -- most notably the keys and bass. That bass sounds to me like a Fender P. Perhaps it can be confirmed? Either way, the unbeat slaps are ridiculous in the best way possible. Behind everything, adding the ambience not controlled by Jones, are the keys.

I am loving it.

Check it out.

- C