''Jaime'' is the debut solo studio album from

Brittany Howard Brittany Amber Howard (born October 2, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter of rock bands Alabama Shakes, Thunderbitch, and Bermuda Triangle. Her work wi ...

, released on September 20, 2019, via ATO Records. It has received acclaim from critics and has been nominated for several awards; it was a moderate sales success, appearing on several charts. The album is a mix of several musical styles that reflects intimate events and perspectives in Howard's life, which she supported with her first solo tour.

Recording

The album is the first solo work from Howard, who has previously recorded with

Alabama Shakes Alabama Shakes were an American rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson. The band began its career touring ...

. It is dedicated to her sister Jaime, who died of retinoblastoma as a teen. After experiencing

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

, Howard put Alabama Shakes on hold to pursue side projects and to have complete control over the recording of ''Jaime'' in 2018. After taking a long

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by ...

, she reflected on her life as her 30th birthday approached and decided to record an album that explored her personal history and beliefs. In addition to discussing the death of her sister, the album explores growing up poor, the prejudice that her parents faced as an

interracial couple Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...

and her struggle with religious faith. She began recording the songs in a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

Topanga, California Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

before heading to two Los Angeles-based studios to finalize the album.

Musical style

''Jaime'' has an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

style that features elements of synth-rock,

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and con ...

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

, hip hop,

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhy ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

retro-soul Retro soul, sometimes written as retro-soul, is a post-modern and contemporary popular music genre that emerged years after the golden era of soul music. In style of singing, arrangement and recording techniques, this music attempts to offer new ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

avant-jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

, funkadelia,

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

, and

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

. According to

Ann Powers Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...

of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', the music is a departure from the revivalist rock of Alabama Shakes, instead exploring a cross between jazz, funk, and soul. Writing for

Uproxx ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

, Steven Hyden says Howard abandons typical rock-band dynamics in favor of "darker, weirder, groovier, and more psychedelic" sounds, making it difficult to categorize the album simply as rock, R&B, or jazz. On the other hand, ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' explicitly classifies ''Jaime'' as a synth-rock album. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''s Sheldon Pearce also observes synth-rock, although in rapid form among other elements, such as experimental

psychedelic funk Psychedelic funk (also called P-funk or funkadelia, and sometimes conflated with psychedelic soul) is a music genre that combines funk music with elements of psychedelic rock. It was pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by American acts li ...

, old school hip hop

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and U ...

s, and tight jazz sounds reminiscent of

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

's 2014 album '' Black Messiah''; his colleague Jillian Mapes also compares the work to D'Angelo as well as

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

and

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

. "13th Century Metal" is an

and

song that dives into "brilliant"

later on.

Marketing

The release was accompanied by three singles: "History Repeats" on June25, 2019; "Stay High" on June16, 2019; and "He Loves Me" on January20, 2020. Howard also embarked on her first solo tour in promotion of the album. On the road, she and her backing band eschewed Alabama Shakes songs and only performed works from this album and her other bands. *August 17: Asheville, North Carolina – Orange Peel *August 18: Asheville, North Carolina – Orange Peel *August 19: Nashville, Tennessee – Ryman Auditorium *August 23: Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club *August 24: Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club *September 18: Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Riverside Theater *September 19: St. Paul, Minnesota – Palace Theatre *September 20: Chicago, Illinois – Riviera Theatre *September 22: Toronto, Ontario – Rebel *September 24: New York City, New York – Beacon Theatre *September 25: Boston, Massachusetts – House of Blues *September 27: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The Fillmore *October 5: Austin, Texas – ACL Festival *October 8: Los Angeles, California – Theatre at Ace Hotel *October 9: Los Angeles, California – Theatre at Ace Hotel *October 12: Austin, Texas – ACL Festival *October 13: Atlanta, Georgia – AfroPunk Festival Howard also performed a set for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Tiny Desk Concert Tiny Desk Concerts is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of ''All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first Tiny Desk Concert came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music editor Stephen Thomp ...

series and made promotional appearances on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...

'' in 2019 and ''

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' in 2020. Planned 2020 performances were canceled or rescheduled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Music videos for "Stay High" and "He Loves Me" were released, with the former featuring Terry Crews

lip syncing Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

the song.

Reception

AnyDecentMusic? characterized the critical consensus of 20sources as an 8.2 out of 10 and Album of the Year gave it an 83 out of 100, with 20reviews. Reviewing for ''

'', Hyden praised the album for its differences from Howard's previous work and genre-bending mix of funk, jazz, and hip-hop. In ''

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

'', Jon Dolan highlighted the

Southern culture The culture of the Southern United States, Southern culture, or Southern heritage, is a subculture of the United States. The combination of its unique history and the fact that many Southerners maintain—and even nurture—an identity separate f ...

elements of the lyrics and summing up that her lyrics in "Georgia" make a "strikingly bold moment on a record that's full of them". ''Pitchfork'' awarded ''Jaime'' the distinction of "Best New Music", with Pearce describing it as a "thrilling opus that pushes the boundaries of voice, sound, and soul to new extremes". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s Ben Beaumont-Thomas called it "emotionally as well as musically varied" and concluded that solo projects "are rarely as beautiful as they are here". In '' Under the Radar'', Celine Teo-Blockey found her cross-genre experimentation "stunning". Reviewing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed the album will warrant repeated listening, with "subsequent spins... profound and nourishing". In a year-end essay for ''

'', Powers cited as ''Jaime'' one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Howard, whose "stunning" album "went deep to reveal the joys and pain of her experience as an embodiment of that elusive state:

intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...

Accolades

The album opener "History Repeats" received two nominations at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

, for

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

and Best Rock Performance Both "13th Century Metal" and "Stay High" were included on ''

's'' list of the best songs of 2019, placing at number 98 and 42 respectively. Howard was nominated for Artist of the Year, ''Jaime'' for Album of the Year, and "Stay High" for Song of the Year at the 2020

Americana Music Honors & Awards The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Ac ...

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Brittany Howard, except where noted #"History Repeats" – 3:05 #"He Loves Me" – 2:32 #"Georgia" – 3:18 #"Stay High" – 3:12 #"Tomorrow" (Paul Horton, Brittany Howard) – 3:14 #"Short and Sweet" – 3:45 #"13th Century Metal" (

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 6, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger with a career that bridges several different musical and artistic genres, mostly centered on jazz. To date, Glasper has won fou ...

, Brittany Howard, Nate Smith) – 4:48 #"Baby" – 2:27 #"Goat Head" – 3:13 #"Presence" – 2:47 #"Run to Me" – 3:05

Personnel

– guitar on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Stay High", "Baby", and "Presence"; clavinet on "Georgia"; keyboards on "Georgia" and "Run to Me"; keyboard and string arrangement on "Tomorrow"; vocals; drums on "Tomorrow", "Presence", and "Run to Me"; percussion on "Tomorrow"; bass guitar on "Tomorrow";

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

; editing on "13th Century Metal" Additional musicians *Terry K. Anderson– sermon from Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas excerpt

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

in "He Loves Me" *Lloyd Buchanan– organ on "Georgia" * Zac Cockrell– bass guitar on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Georgia", "Stay High", "Tomorrow", and "Baby" *

– celesta on "Stay High", keyboards on "13th Century Metal", "Baby", and "Goat Head" *

Larry Goldings Lawrence Sam “Larry” Goldings (born August 28, 1968) is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and fusion. Goldings has a comedic alter ego known as Hans Groiner. Life and career Golding ...

– keyboards on "Tomorrow" *Paul Horton– clavinet on "History Repeats" and keyboard arrangement on "Tomorrow" * Lavinia Meijer– harp on "Presence" *

Rob Moose Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connect ...

– strings on "Tomorrow" * Nate Smith– drums on "History Repeats", "He Loves Me", "Georgia", "Stay High", "13th Century Metal", "Baby", "Goat Head", and "Run to Me";

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

on "Baby"; percussion on "Goat Head" Technical personnel *Chris Bellman– lacquer cutting *Christopher Cerulo– engineering assistance *

Danny Clinch Danny Clinch (born 1964) is an American photographer and film director. Biography Born in Toms River, New Jersey, Clinch graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982. After attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England S ...

– photography *

Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Ever ...

–

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, mixing, mastering at United Recording and Subtle McNugget in Los Angeles *Brantley Gutierrez– photography *Michael Harris– engineering assistance * Bob Ludwig– mastering input *Scott Moore– mixing assistance *Vlad Sepetov– art direction *Ivan Wayman– mixing assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Jaime (Reimagined)

''Jaime (Reimagined)'' is the first remix album by American musician

. The album collects remixes of songs from her 2019 debut studio album ''Jaime''. It was released digitally on July 23, 2021, by ATO Records, with vinyl copies shipping in September 2021. Three of the album's remixes appeared on the ''Jaime (The Remixes)'' EP released in 2020. At the 2022 Libera Awards, ''Jaime (Reimagined)'' received a nomination for Best R&B Record. Additionally, album track "Stay High again.." was nominated for Best Dance Record.

Critical reception

Radio station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

listed the album as the fifth best of 2021, saying "this collection is pretty much an entirely new album where the versions sound totally different, but with a great deal of respect to the original body of work. Sometimes it's good to be challenged, and ''Jaime (Reimagined)'' does just that in a very unique and uplifting way."

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* * *
''Jaime''
at

Rate Your Music Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online collaborative database of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also fea ...

{{Authority control 2019 debut albums Albums produced by Brittany Howard ATO Records albums Brittany Howard albums Albums recorded at Electro-Vox Recording Studios