Solange Knowles has chosen an Aug. 26 release date for her sophomore album, “Sol-Angel and The Hadley Street Dreams.” The project boasts production from Cee-Lo, Q-Tip, Mark Ronson, Raphael Saadiq and Pharrell — who steered the first single, “I Decided.”
An April 25 press release about the video for “I Decided” states:
“The video for ‘I Decided, directed by the creative Melina, will offer the viewer a glimpse of who Solange, the visionary, really is: It is the ultimate pop art piece. Its psychedelic, it’s adventurous, it’s colorful and not so colorful, it’s intelligent, and it’s the inner makings of Solange. [Solange states,] ‘I love pop art; in fact I am a painter myself and have several pieces under my belt that I haven’t put on display but soon plan to.’ The ‘I Decided’ video deals with pop culture from the 60s to the future. It displays SoL-AngeL in settings from American Bandstand, to the Civil Rights Movement, to New Wave, and finally a ‘Cosmic Journey’ future.”
Other songs on “Sol-Angel” include the Bilal-penned “Cosmic Journey,” “Wanna Go Back” featuring Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry, the Estelle-assisted “Same Song, Different Man,” and “Champagnechronicnightcap,” alongside Lil Wayne.
Her sound is quite refreshing these days. It’s not the usual diluted R&B sound suffocating the industry right now. And she’s separating herself from her sister Beyonce and other female R&B singers.
