CD Review: Labelle: Back to Now

Well, it's been promised for a long time, but Labelle is finally back.

As a teenager, I discovered Labelle after seeing Patti in concert for the first time. As a crate digger from the cradle, I went to a used record store and bought "Chameleon", an album that would revolutionize my perspectives on all things spiritual, sexual and political. I quickly bought their discography and immersed myself in work that is as highly (if not MORE) relevant today as it was back then.

During an interview with Sarah Dash last year, she told me that Labelle reunion was actually happening...and here we are with the album in hand.

It would be idiotic to expect Labelle to pick up where they left off in 1977. They have had 30 years apart to grow and expand their individual identities. Patti has led an iconic solo career, Nona has pioneered as a singer/songwriter/producer in numerous genres and no one has made the clubs jump more than Sarah has. So how do they return "back to now"?

Well, there's a fusion of their three individual styles, an inclusion of producers (Lenny Kravitz, Gamble & Huff and Wyclef Jean) with a knack for blending nostalgia with a contemporary glint, a lyrical approach that continues to ask provoking questions about relationships, politics and culture and the mainstay throughout are the magical harmonies than only Labelle can lay down.

While Wyclef Jean produced the first single, "Roll Out", it is the Lenny Kravitz productions that most capture the Labelle fire. "Candlelight" and "Superlover" could easily be placed between any song on "Nightbirds" and you'd never notice the difference. My personal favorite, however, is the Nona Hendryx composition "System" (which was originally intended for whatever their 1978 album would have been). "System" is chillingly poignant considering that it was written almost 30 years ago...and feels as if it were written for this generation...but I guess, like all prophetic work, it was.

"Dear Rosa", produced by Hendryx", is another stand-out track: the one that actually sparked the inspiration for this project. The Labelle blend is in full effect...and it is one of the few tracks where Sarah Dash is a little hotter in the mix, and one is reminded of how essential her contribution is to the group.

Nona steps to the mike in "The Truth Will Set You Free", a gospel/rock track, that should most certainly be one of the singles issued to radio from the project.

The album closes with a 1970 recording of the group doing Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" that is nothing short of chill-bump raising: an interesting way to close this reunion project...a reminder of how Labelle got here...and how, underneath it all, the group maintains it's status as legend.

If I had to criticize anything, it would be that I wish Sarah Dash had been given more time on the mike...and that I wish there had been one more Nona Hendryx production. Aside from that, I have to say that I hope there is another Labelle album in the works...Kudos to Verve Records for bringing us this monumental album.