V V Brown - Samson and Delilah

I'm struggling to remember a more drastic change of musical style (although last year's passing glimpse of Charlotte Church that I made raised an eyebrow). The debut in 2009 of Travelling Like the Light from VV Brown (I understand she's now V V but I've stuck with VV and I ignored V. V. so deal with it) may not quite have seized the UK public and enamoured us all, but it certainly had a fairly unique sense of sound. What cynics wrote off as wobbly-pop may more accurately have been labelled as a heavily retro, highly energetic love letter to Motown. Of course I struggle to remember some tracks, but they peaked with Shark in the Water. To this day, it is my fourth most-played song in over 7 years of last.fm use, and I'd cite it as quite comfortably one of the best ten songs of the noughties. It is beautiful, and fun, and reminds me of a pretty great summer I had that year.

Brown looked set to continue that trend with the release of the nursery rhyme sampling Children in 2011, but her album (the dubiously-titled Lollipops and Politics) was scrapped and she set about a rebirth. Speaking to EMusic, she revealed:

Kate Bush was a massive influence on this record — she has these amazing ways of organizing melody — and I listened to a lot of opera too, which is also about experimenting with structure... But vocally this record is definitely about opera. [here]

You wouldn't find the Bush singing about quick fixes, but the other way around and you can see quite clearly that Brown has undergone a remarkable artistic maturity, and - given the chance - Samson and Delilah could be your most pleasant surprise this year.

At first glance you may worry you've downloaded Madonna's Ray of Light album by mistake - the album begins with two tracks called 'Nothing Really Matters' and 'Substitute for Love' - but never fear, it's quite new. SFL is a slow but dramatic opening, sounding somewhat like a reworking of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells with Brown's newfound gnarly, throaty vocals immediately shaking up our perception of her as a performer. She's stranger still on NRM, where she takes on almost a contralto, genderless front for a snare-heavy industrial dance track. Neither track is quite as operatic as she claims, but that's rectified on 'Samson', the album's first cut accompanied earlier in the year by a vaguely Woodkid-inspired music video. Rattles and pounding drums give it a similar listening quality to the Frenchman too, but ultimately it's Brown's screams and commanding performance that make it uniquely her. There may be the fear that her new persona and style may alienate some, but taking in the wonderfully ambient 'I Can Give You More' should really dispel those myths and endear her to new and old fans alike.

According to Billboard there were elements of Bjork's Biophilia record that had an influence here and the most obvious incarnation of that would seem to be 'Igneous', a dark chamber-pop piece that thrives off of a buzzing beat and finds Brown in a dramatic monologue towards the end. If there's a problem with Samson and Delilah it's that a handful of its tracks struggle to collect any momentum and feel a bit slow; this is the case with 'Looking for Love' and the pitch-shifting 'Faith' - by no means poor, but outshone by everything else on the record. Single 'The Apple', for example, slots in perfectly into that rota of post-the Knife gothpop brilliance that's been churning lately with songs from Kate Boy, CHVRCHES, and No No No. Brown is commanding here, ordering us "don't patronise me, I'm not your crown. Don't cause me suffering, it's over now".

Speaking of the Knife, a sombre piano-led ballad 'Knife' comes towards the end, giving Brown a chance to prove her vocal credentials; the track soon blossoms into a very contemporary synth-orchestra soarer, which is all lovely on the ear. It's an interesting choice to follow 'Ghosts', too, the album's briefest and poppiest moment - organs underline a thumping EDM beat and build a deceptively happy backing for a song about "missing you tonight". So I'm sure the many fans of Robyn (of which I am certainly one) will probably love it. Finally, 'Beginning' closes off with a drawn-out, empty-church vibe full of distorted vocal effects, slow chord changes and dark, wintry isolation.

I just hope that people weren't put into a fit of alienation on either side of the coin - those who hated her earlier material and now ignore her, or those who loved it and can't adjust to the new side. This side of Brown is, whilst lacking in attention-grabbing pop belters, infinitely more interesting and, crucially, raw.

Rating: 7.5/10
Highlights: I Can Give You More; The Apple; Samson; Igneous; Ghosts
Avoid: n/a

Artwork Watch: Is she even trying to stand out any more? :( Sidenote: it's quite nice.
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