Joy Denalane Releases new bonus track, ‘Forever’ ahead of her album, Deluxe Edition of ‘Let Yourself Be Loved,’ September 3 via Lesedi/Motown Records.
The album was originally released via Motown Records and produced by the famous jazz pianist Roberto Di Gioia. ‘Forever’ is one of five bonus offerings from the Deluxe Edition album, carrying all the elements of classic soul, shimmering arrangements, rich ethereal melodies, complete with choirs and iconic bass.
Often described as the Queen of Soul Joy Denalane is the first European artist to ever sign to Motown and Forever is the second bonus track from her âLet Yourself Be Lovedâ â Deluxe edition album.Â
With âLet Yourself Be Loved â Deluxe Editionâ, Joy presents her definitive soul statement. Marking her fifth album release, the record is in equal parts an act of self-assertion, genealogical research and homage to the great classics of the genre, deftly bringing together all the strands of her earlier work. Itâs a record that features the shimmering arrangements, the sumptuousness and the ethereal melodies we associate with classic soul music. Production comes courtesy of Roberto Di Gioia – one of the worldâs most renowned jazz pianists who began his career playing with greats such as Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer and Woody Shaw. Â
Originally released on Motown Records in summer 2020, with over 10 million streams and selling over 26, 000 copies (reaching Number 5 in the German charts) the album finally gets its first official UK release, in the form of an expanded deluxe edition, featuring five brand new songs, complete with an exclusive lavish 7″ box set with eight vinyls.
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Highlights include âBe Here In The Morningâ, a duet with Texan blues singer C.S. Armstrong, the dramatic âWounded Loveâ, the Marvin Gaye-reminiscent âThe Rideâ and the combative up-tempo smasher âI Gotta Knowâ. The James Jamerson bass guitar sounds particularly good on âI Believeâ, which Denalane sings with former Motown artist BJ The Chicago Kid, who has also collaborated with artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and Anderson Paak. And of course, donât miss the five new bonus tracks; thereâs the funk driven âUse Me,â and the joyful splendor of âStill It Ainât You.â Upcoming single âThe Show,â is neo-soul at its best, whilst the upbeat âForeverâ and the timeless âGive and Takeâ complete the set. The addition of these new songs lifts an already brilliant album to a near perfect body of work.  Â
âI wanted to make a classic soul album,â says Joy. âStylistically I was looking for inspiration from the period around the end of the 1960s to 1973â â a period which represents an important turning point for the genre, in which soul surpassed itself musically and finally became a socio-political force with significant impact.
For Joy this deep and devoted engagement with the music of her childhood is not simply a search for her musical roots. Itâs not a matter of vintage simulations of old soul recordings. Itâs a matter of identity â musical, political and personal. The biographical aspect, the desire for belonging, has always been a central theme in her work.
âWhat was important to me was the sound and the feeling, a search for myself. Where do I come from, what defines me, whatâs left when I leave everything else out?â In most of the songs she is ostensibly singing about love in all its facets: love of friends and children as well as romantic love. Yet the way she does that is similar to how universal themes gained an additional level of meaning and a political charge in soul music in the past. The pain and the urgency present in these love songs naturally laid a trail to the black civil rights movement and the misery suffered as a result of racism and marginalisation. This suffering is, sadly, international and not limited to the United States of the 1960s. âI can feel my own pain, my rage, my despair and vulnerability very clearly on this record,âshe says. âThis music brings these feelings to light and channels them even more than the previous records.â
The album is permeated by Joy Denalaneâs experiences as a black woman in Germanyâs diaspora. When she was a child and a teenager there were very few black people in Germany, and there was no sound that addressed their day-to-day experience of racism and marginalisation. âAll those years I was coming up against brick walls,â says Joy, âeven in enlightened, cosmopolitan Berlin. The music gave me strength and helped me to become aware of the situation. By now I understand something I wasnât able to see when I was 20 or 25: you never get used to these hurts and rejections, it never gets better. The incessant categorising makes you crazy and increasingly sensitive.â
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However, that has not made the Berlin-born artist any less fierce: sometimes when you sing about love, itâs about the absence of love. That is just part of howâ Let Yourself Be Loved â Deluxe Editionâ represents the essence of Joy Denalane.
Joy Denalane first broke through with her 2002 debut album âMamani,â which went gold. Her second, âBorn & Raisedâ featuring special guests Lupe Fiasco, Raekwon and Governor reached number 2 in the German charts, which along with the follow ups, her top-10 albums âMaureenâ and âGleisdreieck,â helped establish Joy as one of the most influential soul artists in Germany. For her fifth album, âLet Yourself Be Loved,â she was signed to the legendary Motown Records â one of the first ever European artists to sign to the label.Â
âLET YOURSELF BE LOVEDÂ DELUXE EDITIONâ TRACKLIST
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1.        Wounded Love
2.        Be Here In The Morning (Feat. CS Armstrong)
3.        I Believe (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)
4.        The Ride
5.        I Gotta Know
6.        Hey Dreamer
7.        Stand
8.        Love Your Love
9.        Top Of My Love
10.      Let Yourself Be Loved
11.      Put In Work
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Bonus Tracks:
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12.       Use Me
13.       Still It Ainât You
14.       The Show
15.       Forever
16.       Give and Take