(S-Curve/Virgin)

s-curverecords.com

The first time I listened to Mind Body & Soul, I thought: what a perfect groove to play at the end of a shit week. The first words you hear are "I've got a right to be wrong." Interesting. There's some mellow I-love-you-so-much-it-hurts acoustics, some get-it-right-u-fool rock, a little don't-mess-with-my-mind disco, and a whole lot of I'm-a-woman-deal-with-it heart and soul. Initially, it was hard to concentrate on the lyrics because I could not get over her voice. Joss Stone has a strong, confident, full-bodied voice. And when you put that voice with lyrics like, "don't smother me with negativity," it's hard not to pay attention.

I had heard of Joss Stone before, but knew nothing of her. When I finally heard her voice I thought to myself: this woman has passion; this woman has made mistakes before; this chick knows what she wants. Then to my absolute astonishment I discovered that she is only 17 years old! This finally explained that one line on the track "Killing Time": "I know I may be young and know nothing of this world/oh lord it's been long in its coming." Besides preferring love songs that have the word ‘killing' in the title, I was particularly consumed by the words in this song though I had no idea what this line meant. Now I get it: she's a kid. But she's a smart kid and I dig her.
There is absolutely nothing annoying nor teenybopper-ish about Joss Stone and her new and awesome album, Mind Body & Soul. I have no idea how much she actually contributed to the writing, but even if someone handed her these words, I'm impressed at how she can sing with so much soul and evoke so much "damn, that's me! I should have written that song." It makes me think back to when I was her age and what I was feeling at that time. I definitely would not have been able to relate to any of these words and certainly not to this kind of passion. And although I find most teenagers incredibly dull, I find her intriguing.

Though she obviously has a gift, she isn't a songbird at all. When she sings, she actually sounds moved; like she's feeling something which I find even more intriguing. I was certainly a dull teenager and didn't have any feelings until I was well into my 20's. It was a long drawn out set of feelings that's just never going to end: what is this pain, this agony, this self-masochistic-destructive behavior? Ah yes this must be love--but I digress.

Don't get me wrong, this album is not bitter, nor angry; it's smart and I love it. With tracks like "Right to Be Wrong", "Young at Heart", "Understand" and "Killing Time", I would give this album to any woman who ever really fell in love then had to turn around and deal with the man she was completely head over heels in love with. Whether that felt like a garden in heaven or a run through the blender, one can certainly find her anthem on this CD.

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