Photo: Elias Tahan
For a while now, Solange Knowles has been o ne o f those singers you f eel warmly about. She has a beautiful voice, impeccable style, and a perfect instinct for what’s cool. Her songs have always been good—though never quite great, never quite hits. Until now. Her new EP True is great. A collaboration with her producer Devonté Hynes (a musician in his own right, Hynes records under the monikers Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange), the collection of seven songs, out today, has sent ripples across the music world, pleasing fickle bloggers and established critics alike. Among fans, the music video for the EP’s catchy first single “Losing You” has been a sensation. On the eve of the EP’s release, we spoke on the phone with Knowles as she walked through the airport, o n her way to Los Angeles to host a listening session f or f riends. Something is going on here. Without putting words in your mouth, it feels a bit like you’ve come into your own. What’s new? I really kind of learned on this record to write songs that I would be able to perform—that were in my vocal range, like second nature. A lot of the time I completely free-styled the melodies without any lyrical ideas. Then I would go back and try to make sense of what I was feeling. So that’s sort o f what you are hearing here, that second-nature tone.