H.E.R. is the pseudonym of young R&B artist Gabi Wilson. Prior to the release of this, her first full length album, she had released two EPs. On this album, she includes all of the songs from those EPs along with a duet with Daniel Caesar that had been previously released on one of Caesar’s albums and then six new songs. Technically, this makes this a compilation album, I reckon, but it had enough new material for the Grammys, I guess, who nominated it for Album of the Year. Regardless, if you’re guessing that two EPs, a duet from another artist and six new songs seems like it would be a lot of songs, you’re right. It’s twenty-two actually and the album clocks in at an epic 72 minutes. But darned if this isn’t the best R&B album I’ve heard in ages and ages and ages. With twenty-two songs, there’s not a dud in the bunch and there’s not a one that I wouldn’t have been pleased to listen to longer; with that long of a list, the tracks clock in at around three minutes a piece, with a few exceptions, and every time a song faded out I was really in the groove and not ready for it to end. The hooks are solid without being dumb and the lyrics are understated and simple. Wilson sings with a pretty unadorned style, spending a fair amount of time in her lower registers, the better to create the sultry, sexy vibe that pervades this album. She has range when she chooses to use it, but her vocals are quiet and heartfelt most often. The production is gorgeous, a lush kind of hip-hop inflected R&B that provides the perfect bed for Wilson’s voice. Her melodies are good and she’s able to evoke a whole range of emotions without any of them ringing false. From the melancholy and bereft, like the album opener Losing, to the swooning romantic, like the gorgeous, acoustic duet with Caesar, Best Part, to the dark, menacing rage of the thundering, bass heavy 2, she nails everything perfectly. Even for a debut full-length, this is pretty astonishing. I suppose it might be a case of her building up this amazing catalog of songs over the years before she was recording, but even at that, twenty-two songs without a single miss is incredibly rare. And she’s all of twenty-two years old, so consider it pretty preternatural and also color me very excited to see where she goes in the years (hopefully decades) to come. Ignore that opening. Wilson seems to be worried about losing; let me tell you, the girl is winning. 4 stars.
tl;dr – at over seventy minutes, there’s not a dud among the 22 songs here; heartfelt emotion, beautiful production and charismatic vocals make this the best R&B album in years. 4 stars.