Jaime (album)

Jaime is the debut solo studio album from Brittany Howard, released on September 20, 2019 via ATO Records.[7] It has received acclaim from critics[8] and has been nominated for several awards; it was a moderate sales success, appearing on several charts. The album is a mix of several musical styles that reflects intimate events and perspectives in Howard's life, which she supported with her first solo tour.

Jaime
Studio album by
Brittany Howard
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)
Recorded2018
StudioElectro Vox and Subtle McNugget, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genre
Length35:26
LabelATO
ProducerBrittany Howard
Brittany Howard chronology
Jaime
(2019)		 Live at Sound Emporium
(2020)
Singles from Jaime
  1. "History Repeats"
    Released: June 25, 2019[4]
  2. "Stay High"
    Released: July 16, 2019[5]
  3. "He Loves Me"
    Released: January 20, 2020[6]

Recording
I actually made some music the way I hear it... No-one tells me they don't like it, no-one says they don't like this bass part, or this arrangement's too crazy. It was just up to me to make my own mistakes.

―Brittany Howard on recording Jaime solo[9]

The album is the first solo work from Howard, who has previously recorded with Alabama Shakes. It is dedicated to her sister Jaime,[10] who died of retinoblastoma as a teen.[11] After experiencing writer's block,[12] Howard put Alabama Shakes on hold to pursue side projects and to have complete control over the recording of Jaime in 2018.[13] After taking a long road trip,[14] she reflected on her life as her 30th birthday approached[15] and decided to record an album that explored her personal history and beliefs. In addition to discussing the death of her sister, the album explores growing up poor,[9] the prejudice that her parents faced as an interracial couple and her struggle with religious faith.[16] She began recording the songs in a greenhouse in Topanga, California before heading to two Los Angeles-based studios to finalize the album.[9]

Musical style

Jaime has an eclectic style that features elements of synth-rock, blues rock, neo soul, experimental music, psychedelia, soul, gospel, funk, hip hop, contemporary R&B, electronic music, retro-soul, jazz fusion, spoken word, avant-jazz, new age, trap, noise rock, funkadelia, alternative country, power pop, and doo-wop.[1][2][3][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

According to Ann Powers of Slate, the music is a departure from the revivalist rock of Alabama Shakes, instead exploring a cross between jazz, funk, and soul.[26] Writing for Uproxx, Steven Hyden says Howard abandons typical rock-band dynamics in favor of "darker, weirder, groovier, and more psychedelic" sounds, making it difficult to categorize the album simply as rock, R&B, or jazz.[27] On the other hand, Consequence of Sound explicitly classifies Jaime as a synth-rock album.[1] Pitchfork's Sheldon Pearce also observes synth-rock, although in rapid form among other elements, such as experimental psychedelic funk, old school hip hop breakbeats, and tight jazz sounds reminiscent of D'Angelo's 2014 album Black Messiah;[20] his colleague Jillian Mapes also compares the work to D'Angelo as well as Prince and The Roots.[12]

Marketing

The release was accompanied by three singles: "History Repeats" on June 25, 2019;[4] "Stay High" on June 16, 2019;[5] and "He Loves Me" on January 20, 2020.[6]

Howard also embarked on her first solo tour in promotion of the album.[10] On the road, she and her backing band eschewed Alabama Shakes songs and only performed works from this album and her other bands.[28]

  • August 17: Asheville, North Carolina – Orange Peel
  • August 18: Asheville, North Carolina – Orange Peel
  • August 19: Nashville, Tennessee – Ryman Auditorium
  • August 23: Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
  • August 24: Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
  • September 18: Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Riverside Theater
  • September 19: St. Paul, Minnesota – Palace Theatre
  • September 20: Chicago, Illinois – Riviera Theatre
  • September 22: Toronto, Ontario – Rebel
  • September 24: New York City, New York – Beacon Theatre
  • September 25: Boston, Massachusetts – House of Blues
  • September 27: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The Fillmore
  • October 5: Austin, Texas – ACL Festival
  • October 8: Los Angeles, California – Theatre at Ace Hotel
  • October 9: Los Angeles, California – Theatre at Ace Hotel
  • October 12: Austin, Texas – ACL Festival
  • October 13: Atlanta, Georgia – AfroPunk Festival

Howard also performed a set for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series[29] and made promotional appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2019[30] and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon[31] and Today in 2020.[32] Planned 2020 performances were canceled or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[33]

Music videos for "Stay High"[34] and "He Loves Me"[35] were released, with the former featuring Terry Crews lip syncing the song.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.2/10[36]
Metacritic88/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[37]
Chicago Tribune[38]
The Guardian[39]
The Independent[40]
Mojo[41]
Pitchfork8.6/10[20]
Q[42]
Rolling Stone[43]
The Times[44]
Uncut9/10[45]

Jaime was met with positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. This release received a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 19 reviews.[8] AnyDecentMusic? characterized the critical consensus of 20 sources as an 8.2 out of 10[36] and Album of the Year gave it an 83 out of 100, with 20 reviews.[46]

Reviewing for Uproxx, Hyden praised the album for its differences from Howard's previous work and genre-bending mix of funk, jazz, and hip-hop.[27] In Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan highlighted the Southern culture elements of the lyrics and summing up that her lyrics in "Georgia" make a "strikingly bold moment on a record that's full of them".[43] Pitchfork awarded Jaime the distinction of "Best New Music", with Pearce describing it as a "thrilling opus that pushes the boundaries of voice, sound, and soul to new extremes".[20] The Guardian's Ben Beaumont-Thomas called it "emotionally as well as musically varied" and concluded that solo projects "are rarely as beautiful as they are here".[39] In Under the Radar, Celine Teo-Blockey found her cross-genre experimentation "stunning".[17] Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed the album will warrant repeated listening, with "subsequent spins... profound and nourishing".[37] In a year-end essay for Slate, Powers cited as Jaime one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Howard, whose "stunning" album "went deep to reveal the joys and pain of her experience as an embodiment of that elusive state: intersectionality".[26]

Accolades

The album opener "History Repeats" received two nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance[47] Both "13th Century Metal" and "Stay High" were included on Pitchfork's list of the best songs of 2019, placing at number 98 and 42 respectively.[48] Howard was nominated for Artist of the Year, Jaime for Album of the Year, and "Stay High" for Song of the Year at the 2020 Americana Music Honors & Awards.[49]

Year-end list rankings for Jaime
Publication Accolade Rank
The A.V. Club The 20 Best Albums of 2019 11[50]
Billboard The 50 Best Albums of 2019 17[22]
Clash Clash Albums of the Year 2019 39[51]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2019 19[52]
Entertainment Weekly The Best Albums of 2019 6[53]
Exclaim! 20 Best Pop and Rock Albums of 2019 13[19]
The Guardian The 50 Best Albums of 2019 32[54]
The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 2[55]
Paste The 34 Best Albums of 2019 6[56]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019 12[57]
Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2019 15[58]
Slate The Best Albums of 2019 —[59]
Slant The 25 Best of Albums of 2019 24[21]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2019 45[60]
Uproxx The Best Albums of 2019 23[61]
Vice Media The 100 Best Albums of 2019 79[62]

Track listing

All songs written Brittany Howard, except where noted

  1. "History Repeats" – 3:05
  2. "He Loves Me" – 2:32
  3. "Georgia" – 3:18
  4. "Stay High" – 3:12
  5. "Tomorrow" (Paul Horton, Brittany Howard) – 3:14
  6. "Short and Sweet" – 3:45
  7. "13th Century Metal" (Robert Glasper, Brittany Howard, Nate Smith) – 4:48
  8. "Baby" – 2:27
  9. "Goat Head" – 3:13
  10. "Presence" – 2:47
  11. "Run to Me" – 3:05

Personnel
  • Brittany Howard – guitar on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Stay High", "Baby", and "Presence"; clavinet on "Georgia"; keyboards on "Georgia" and "Run to Me"; keyboard and string arrangement at "Tomorrow"; vocals; drums on "Tomorrow", "Presence", and "Run to Me"; percussion on "Tomorrow"; bass guitar on "Tomorrow"; production; editing on "13th Century Metal"

Additional musicians

  • Terry K. Anderson – sermon from Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas excerpt sampled in "He Loves Me"
  • Lloyd Buchanan – organ on "Georgia"
  • Zac Cockrell – bass guitar on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Georgia", "Stay High", "Tomorrow", and "Baby"
  • Robert Glasper – celesta on "Stay High", keyboards on "13th Century Metal", "Baby", and "Goat Head"
  • Larry Goldings – keyboards on "Tomorrow"
  • Paul Horton – clavinet on "History Repeats" and keyboard arrangement on "Tomorrow"
  • Lavinia Meijer – harp on "Presence"
  • Rob Moose – strings on "Tomorrow"
  • Nate Smith – drums on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Georgia", "Stay High", "13th Century Metal", "Baby", "Goat Head", and "Run to Me"; vibraphone on "Baby"; percussion on "Goat Head"

Technical personnel

  • Chris Bellman – lacquer cutting
  • Christopher Cerulo – engineering assistance
  • Danny Clinch – photography
  • Shawn Everett – engineering, mixing, mastering at United Recording and Subtle McNugget in Los Angeles
  • Brantley Gutierrez – photography
  • Michael Harris – engineering assistance
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering input
  • Scott Moore – mixing assistance
  • Vlad Sepetov – art direction
  • Ivan Wayman – mixing assistance

Charts

Weekly charts
Sales chart performance for Jaime
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[63] 59
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[64] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[65] 159
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[66] 34
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[67] 76
French Albums (SNEP)[68] 182
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[69] 114
Scottish Albums (OCC)[70] 13
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[71] 98
UK Albums (OCC)[72] 36
US Billboard 200[73] 13
US Alternative Albums (Billboard)[74] 3
US Americana/Folk Albums (Billboard)[75] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[76] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[77] 2

Year-end charts
Annual sales chart performance for Jaime
Chart (2019) Position
US Top Current Album Sales[78] 169
US Independent Albums [79] 26

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