Theres nothing like taking on the big issues, and thats exactly what
India.Arie does on her powerful third album Testimony: Vol. 1, Life
& Relationship. The title alone is an unmistakable signal that in
the more than three years since her last Grammy winning album, Voyage
to India appeared, India has grown even more ambitious. That should
hardly be a surprise. After all, her 2001 debut album, Acoustic Soul,
which earned her seven Grammy nominations and sold more than two
million copies, announced that an artist who is unafraid to speak her
mind had entered the music scene.
India continues to make good on that promise. Testimony explores
relationships with the honesty, depth and vulnerability that she has
made her hallmark. Floating on hypnotic rhythms and delicate melodies,
the album travels a journey from heartbreak to acceptance to
transcendence, and communicates all the personal wisdom gathered along
the way. The title of the albums centerpiece sums it up: This is
IndiaSong, the latest chapter of what she intends to be her great, big
body of work.
I couldnt help but write about all the lessons I was learning
about what relationships are, India says about the albums genesis. She
had come through a painful breakup and realized that survival was
merely the first step on her path of independence. I wanted to make
sure that I was telling my truth, that I could stand behind it, she
continues. I saw Free from 106 and Park, and I told her about the album
when I was almost done with it. She said, People dont need you to say
something thats happy. They look at you and say, Whats India going to
tell us next about where shes at? That was soothing.
These songs, then, are smoky, soulful bulletins from the front,
new sources of inspiration for Indias millions of fans. The first half
of Testimony finds India mapping an internal landscape of loss. Its
crazy how much I miss/A simple good morning kiss, she sings quietly on
Good Mourning, and the unaffected directness of that lyric eloquently
conveys the hurt in her heart. A bold, beautiful cover of Don Henleys
The Heart of the Matter establishes what might ultimately be Testimonys
most profound theme: forgiveness. If you keep carrying that anger/Itll
eat you up inside, she sings. Its a gripping performance, and she means
it. Thats exactly how I felt, India says of her vocal on the song. Your
voice is wherever you are, and the voice you hear on that track is
telling a story along with the lyrics. I was right there.
On the lovely Wings of Forgiveness, India defines that essential
theme in her own generous terms: Youre only human/Lets break free of
this gravity of judgment/And fly high on the wings of forgiveness. Akon
joins India on I Am Not My Hair, a song that returns her to the issue
that first brought her national attention with the hit Video: those
women should not be defined by their looks. As a Black American woman,
a lot of your integrity is dictated by how you wear your hair, she
explains. The concept for the song was sparked when I decided to cut my
locks, and all the different attitudes people had about it. This is my
hair and its my life. Ill choose how I express myself.
That desire to live free of expectations also sits at the heart
of I Choose, a song whose buoyant funk gets lifted by Bonnie Raitts
guest turn on guitar. When I see women like her, Im inspired, because I
see that you can be strong and feminine, India says of Raitt. That song
is saying, I choose what kind of woman I want to be, and shes one of
those women who chooses for herself. In an even more striking
collaboration, Gary Lenox of Rascal Flatts harmonizes with India on the
wistful Summer. I love country music, she says. If someone else were to
sing some of my songs, they would be country songs, with their story
lines and clever wordplay. Plus, I just love great singers, and Gary is
a great singer.
Asked what she would like listeners to take away from Testimony:
Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (she is already gathering songs for
Vol. 2), India sighs, thinks for a moment, and then says, I always pray
that God will allow my music to touch whoever its for in the way that
they need. I always pray for that.
But, on my own human level, she continues, when I was growing
up, I remember very few songs that talked about what relationships were
really like. So, for people who are still growing and learning, I hope
this album will be a window into what it really means to love somebody
the triumph and the pain, and how it all comes together. And for people
who have had their hearts broken, I hope these songs will speak to them
with the laser-point accuracy that is comforting about music, whenever
you find it.
Links:
Official Website
India.Arie on Myspace
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