Joss Stone
Introducing Joss Stone

Joss Stone is one of the few singers today with an undeniable talent.

By the age of 19, she had sold almost 8 million records worldwide, performed on stage alongside the likes of James Brown, Rolling Stones & Stevie Wonder, and was compared by many to Aretha Franklin, who is considered her predecessor. Yet, despite all this, she didn't feel complete, she felt like she hadn't been able to express her true self, something she believes she only managed to do with her third work, "Introducing Joss Stone".

The title itself says it all, as Joss has often declared: "Introducing Joss because this album fully represents me, this is who I am as an artist, these are my words."

The album's sound is clearly inspired by the soul of the '60s & '70s with a sprinkle of hip-hop and jazz sounds as a backdrop. The producer is Raphael Saadiq, who assisted Joss throughout the entire recording period; he plays bass on the record and also leads the jazz live band that plays on the album, so much of the album's sound, if not its entirety, is owed to him.

The album, released in March 2007 in England and then in the rest of the world, was entirely written by Joss with the collaboration of Raphael for the sounds. Stone resonates with The Supremes (Girl, They Won't Believe It) which talks about finding happiness with music, echoes Motown (In The Arms Of My Baby), and also pays homage to classic soul with "What Were We Thinking" a song full of strings. There is also some funky in the album (Tell Me ‘Bout It) and in this full-immersion into black music, hip-hop could not be missing; in "Music Joss" she sings alongside Fugees' singer Lauryn Hill who raps a verse. In the dreamy and rhythmic "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" she hosts rapper Common, one from the '90s school who still plays more than decent songs today, whose verse elevates the song, making it one of the best on the album.

Unfortunately, there are also tracks that are too predictable such as "Proper Nice & Bruised But Not Broken" but it was a risk since at just 19 years Joss worked almost entirely alone on the album. Nice instead is the outro titled "Music" where the finale also hosts Raphael himself in a duet with Stone.

With this album, Joss has reset everything, started over from scratch and begun to chart the musical path she will likely follow in the future. All in all, it is a good work, although "The Soul Sessions" was better.