Joss Stone :
Mind, Body and Soul

Release Date: 27 September 2004

Reviewed By: Melisa Tang

1. Right To Be Wrong

2. Jet Lag

3. You Had Me

4. Spoiled

5. Don't Wanna Ride

6. Less Is More

7. Security

8. Young At Heart

9. Snakes and Ladders

10. Understand

11. Don't know How

12. Torn & Tattered

13. Killing Time

14. Sleep Like Child

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For someone so young, Joss Stone has achieved so much. The 2003 release of her debut album ‘The Soul Sessions’ saw the 17-year-old propelled into the limelight, quickly turning the shy, talented teenager into a strong, confident, female soul star. Her vocals were astoundingly mature – something you’d expect from a middle-aged soul singer. Instead, what you find yourself listening to is the work of a young Caucasian girl, with talent oozing from her veins and soul flowing through her blood stream.

Unlike her first album, a reworking of a collection of soul classics, ‘Mind, Body & Soul’ sees Stone venture into the unknown, with the Devon-born songstress turning her hand to songwriting. Working together with soul legend Betty Wright, Stone manages to develop her writing skills to an impressive standard, particularly on tracks like ‘Understand’, ‘Killing Time’, and the opening track, ‘Right To Be Wrong’, where Stone expresses her need for space: ‘I’ve got a right to be wrong/ I’ve been held down too long/ I’ve got to break free/ So I can finally breathe.’

Her latest single however, doesn’t conform to this soft, sensitive side of Stone. The hit song ‘You Had Me’ portrays Stone as a woman who knows what she wants, someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. The song was clearly designed to make an impact on the charts, to show that Stone can adapt to make more popular music, whilst still keeping her roots firmly in the soul scene. This could have failed miserably, but Stone has built up a loyal fan base from her previous work on tracks like ‘Super Duper Love’, and this blend of pop and soul has worked well to her advantage.

Despite her age and youthful appearance, Stone appears to have plenty of experience when it comes to love; just take a listen to the lyrics on the gorgeous ‘Jet Lag’ or the meaningful ‘Spoiled’.

One of the more unique tracks on the album is ‘Less Is More’, a song with a slightly more “jazzy” feel to it, with the staccato of the beat and the pace of the vocals on the chorus giving it an ‘old school’ feel.

Midway through the album, at track number 8, you get the feeling that there has been a change in production, and referring to the album sleeve, I find to my surprise that Stone has worked with acclaimed producer Salaam Remi, the man behind many of Nas’ hits. The collaboration on ‘Young At Heart’ is a welcome one, and you see a slightly different side to Stone’s musical abilities, with the singer adopting a more Blues-sounding tone in her voice.

Stone’s sophomore album is undoubtedly a gem, but there’s one thing that puts a downer on the whole album. The inclusion of ‘You Had Me’ puts the running of the album out of joint, for it is the only pop/soul track on the whole album and it is the one song which sounds totally unlike anything Stone has ever done. Although the reception of ‘You Had Me’ as the single was decent, it might not have appealed much to Joss’ original fan base, the one that found ‘The Soul Sessions’ something to escape to after a hard day’s work.

Nevertheless, Stone has reached another milestone in her life – the overcoming of the cliché, the disappointing follow-up album. ‘Mind, Body & Soul’ has elevated Stone to the more respected league of singers – those who have the songwriting skills to back up their amazing vocals. Stone is two thirds of the way to becoming a fully-fledged star; now all she needs to do is take to producing, and she will soon establish herself as the superstar we all know she can be. She’s definitely a soul sister to be proud of.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Top 3 tracks:
2) Jet Lag
6) Less Is More
8) Young At Heart

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