Liquid neo-soul with a focus on songwriting.
“All water has a perfect memory,” Toni Morrison once wrote, “and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” Up to 65 percent of a human body is made up of water. Jamila Woods is not surprised that the properties of the element shape people: WATER MADE US is the result of her project to analyze the power of memories and the meaning of eternal return, to find a balance between departure and nostalgia.
Lyrically it’s about love and dealing with loss. “I Miss All My Exes” is the name of a short spoken piece that brings to mind a series of gestures and smells of those who have passed away, from the scent of cannabis to a neck massage. Musically, the songs flow smoothly. Jamila Woods’ neo-soul has always sounded elegant, but her breakthrough record LEGACY! LEGACY! from 2019 a greater political and personal urgency.
WATER MADE US sounds more wait-and-see, more reflective, more positive. In “Good News” she discovers that it is the good news that shapes her, “Send A Dove” shows her talent for composing elegant pop choruses, “Wolfsheep” is an Americana song in a neo-soul guise , “Boomerang” picks up the pace and invites you to dance: This is what Whitney Houston would sound like if she released music on an indie label in 2023.