Alice Russell - I Am (Album)
Photo Credit: Tilt
Alice Russell is universally acclaimed as one of the best modern soul voices of our time, while her raw talent and charisma commands attention and affection. The much-loved British soulstress returns with the most personal album of her career, 'I Am' is vulnerable and bold, while addressing how we must all work on ourselves to heal – so that we can love and connect with those and the world around us more honestly and deeply.
Life, loss and grief have been a central part of this period and a new approach to creating music: “Two little ones have joined me, and one has left - my dad passed away the summer after ‘To Dust’ was released. The day after my Dad’s funeral, I found out I was pregnant with my first little one.” Alice continues: “The grief journey has cracked me open and created a more urgent need to be focused and try to go deeper with how I communicate creatively and who I AM today, and I welcome it with open arms”.
Written and produced alongside long-time collaborator TM Juke, 'I Am' is the first offering of new music from the iconic singer in over a decade and marks a new era in the remarkable career of the down-to-earth vocal powerhouse. Last summer, Alice graced the main stage of Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here, supported Nile Rogers and performed as part of a tribute to Aretha Franklin across France, marking her return to the stage, where she belongs.
‘I Am’ is named after the titular and thematic track, and is a song that allowed Alice to articulate something that she had long felt but hadn’t fully understood: “I had started therapy soon after my first child was born, and it opened up a bigger understanding of myself and some relationships that had shaped my emotional landscape.” Dealing with themes of generational trauma, healing and life’s darker side, ‘I Am’ acts as a liberating beacon, showing that we can all be our biggest lovers and advocates, “finding our own power, clear boundaries, and doing the work on ourselves to love so much more deeply.”