''Emily's D+Evolution'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984) is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award. A native of Portland, Oregon, Spalding be ...

, released on 4 March 2016 by

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...

Background

The album was co-produced by Spalding and longtime

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

collaborator

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. On the album, Spalding sings through the

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

of Emily, which is her middle name. In an interview, Spalding stated that Emily "is a spirit, or a being, or an aspect who I met, or became aware of. I recognize that my job...is to be her arms and ears and voice and body".

Critical reception

''Emily's D+Evolution'' received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 84, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Marcus J. Moore of ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

'' praised the album, stating, "The lyrics are elusive at first, darting behind fast-moving songs and delivered in impressionistic, conversational bursts that recall the delivery of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

. But the fearless generosity behind them communicates itself loud and clear, and it's a spirit that animates the entire album. With it, Spalding has once again redefined an already singular career, dictating a vision entirely on her own terms". Michael J. Warren of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' commented, "''Emily's D+Evolution'' is a tough album to get a full grasp on. It's not a neat alter ego side project; rather than going the Chris Gaines route, Esperanza Spalding is again flexing her range, showing that her playing style and voice can find a home in any genre. There are moments here where she falls into a nice pocket that the listener might wish she'd remain in for a little while longer." Christopher R. Weingarten of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' added, "...''Emily’s D+Evolution'' is a far more ambitious and thornier affair. The lyrics, flowing in disjunctive clusters, are about deleted narratives, glass ceilings and dreams deferred – ultimately a complex, funky prog-rock concept opera about love and identity.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Emily's D+Evolution''. ;Main personnel *

– vocals, bass (tracks 1-11, 13, 14), piano (10, 12), bass synthesizer (12) *

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple c ...

– guitar *

Karriem Riggins Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, hip hop producer, DJ and songwriter. Biography Riggins was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, son of keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins. As a child, he would often watch his father perform with G ...

– drums (2-5, 7, 8, 10, 13), percussion (9) * Justin Tyson – drums (1, 6, 11, 12, 14) * Corey King – backing vocals (1, 2, 5-7, 12-14), synthesizer (6), trombone (8), keyboards (12) *

Emily Elbert Emily Elbert (born December 21, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Los Angeles, California. She has independently released six albums: ''Bright Side'' (2006), ''Proof'' (2010), and ''Alive, In Love'' (2011), ''Evolve'' ...

– backing vocals (1, 6, 11, 12, 14) * Nadia Washington – backing vocals (2, 5, 7, 13) * Celeste Butler, Fred Martin, Katriz Trinidad, Kimberly L. Cook-Ratliff – backing vocals (11) ;Additional personnel *

– production *

– production (2-5, 7-10, 13), mixing (2-5, 7, 9, 10) * Kyle Hoffman – engineering * Tim Price – engineering * Erin Tonkon, Kyle McAulay, Martin Cooke, Nicolas Fournier – assistant engineering *

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

– mixing (1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13) * Mario Borgatta – assistant mixing * Paul Blakemore – mastering * Lawrence Azerrad – graphics, design * Holly Andres – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Esperanza Spalding albums 2016 albums Albums produced by Tony Visconti