Grace Jones
Hurricane

LA RECENSIONE

Black magic, voodoo rituals, transgressiveness, exacerbated androgyny on an amazonian body. 60 years and not showing them. The panther still roars. Transgressive, excessive, eccentric, total. Jamaica, Andy Warhol, fashion, success. Disco music, the exploration of uncharted sonic universes that became a trademark. 19 years have passed since the last - forgettable - “Bulletproof heart” and we had grown accustomed to her absence. And the too many rumors about her... The drugs, the brink, the end of Reagan-era hedonism of the '80s, the struggle to find a record label that believes in her. Then suddenly last year the official statement: Grace Jones is back. The first signs on June 19, 2008, with two hours of concert in London at the Meltdown Festival hosted by Massive Attack, followed by a spectacular appearance in Copenhagen and the video of the single “Corporate cannibal”, which once and for all gives us back Grace at the height of her splendor.

“Pleased to meet you, pleased to have you on my plate, your meat is sweet to me, your destiny, your fate... I'm a man eating machine, corporate cannibal, digital criminal...” The beginning is a true declaration of intent; on an industrial base, Grace confirms for us that the mutant is back and hasn't lost a bit of her feline allure. “Hurricane” is an album full of ideas and excellent collaborations; Tricky (who from “Nightclubbing” and “Warm leatherette” has drawn heavily to forge the sound of Bristol), Brian Eno, Sly & Robbie, and Tony Allen, just to name a few, have accompanied the Goddess without distorting her nature and the result is an epochal album, that moves and almost hurts, from how beautiful it is; it ranges from the filthy dub of “This is”, to the funky-gospel of “William's blood”, to the glacial melancholy of “I'm Crying (my mother's tears)”, “Devil in my eyes”, and “Sunset, sunrise”. Then again the Nassau sounds of the icy New York reggae of “Well, well, well”, the wonderful title track, and the sensual “Love you to life”.

“Hurricane” is a Grace Jones album, in full Grace Jones style. It is an ideal follow-up to her finest works of the Eighties, yet it is enormously contemporary; every word, every note, and every sound is miraculously embedded in today's context; her deep voice continues to captivate as it did thirty years ago, showing how sometimes artists - like wine - improve with age. In the end “Hurricane” is something more than a comeback;it is the spark of a sacred fire that reignites after a long time and the result is an album supple, ambiguous, sinister and rubbery. Feline, fierce, yet incredibly fascinating. Like only a panther can be...