New York (AP) — Alicia Keys hasn’t felt completely free for much of her career. That may sound surprising, but these days the heralded musician is loving the…
New York (AP) — Alicia Keys hasn’t felt completely free for much of her career. That may sound surprising, but these days the heralded musician is loving the makeup-free skin she’s in and settled into a space of confidence and liberation. That’s readily apparent in her eighth studio album, “KEYS,” which represents a back-to-basics approach for the classically trained pianist that heavily emphasizes the instrument that catapulted her into superstardom. “I think it takes time to just feel good, have your confidence to learn, to grow, to have something to even share,” said the songstress, whose album arrived on Friday. “I just didn’t feel comfortable in my skin in the way that I do now.” The 26-track album is broken down in two sections: “Originals” which features many piano-driven songs, followed by the “Unlocked” portion which contains more hip-hop and four-to-the-floor remixes of most of those tracks. “There’s such a power to being able to be undefinable and have different sides of yourself expressed, but all based on that original place of the keys,” said the “Girl on Fire” singer who produced on nearly every song. “That was so liberating because it felt like I’m in my lane and I’m just driving in it, you know what I mean? It was such a comfort to kind of come back to my homebase.
