''Emily's D+Evolution'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American musician

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...

, released on 4 March 2016 by

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists ha ...

Background

The album was co-produced by Spalding and longtime

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

collaborator

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. On the album, Spalding sings through the

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

of Emily, which is her middle name. In an interview, Spalding stated that Emily "is a spirit, or a being, or an aspect who I met, or became aware of. I recognize that my job...is to be her arms and ears and voice and body".

Critical reception

''Emily's D+Evolution'' received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 84, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Marcus J. Moore of ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'' praised the album, stating, "The lyrics are elusive at first, darting behind fast-moving songs and delivered in impressionistic, conversational bursts that recall the delivery of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

. But the fearless generosity behind them communicates itself loud and clear, and it's a spirit that animates the entire album. With it, Spalding has once again redefined an already singular career, dictating a vision entirely on her own terms". Michael J. Warren of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' commented, "''Emily's D+Evolution'' is a tough album to get a full grasp on. It's not a neat alter ego side project; rather than going the Chris Gaines route, Esperanza Spalding is again flexing her range, showing that her playing style and voice can find a home in any genre. There are moments here where she falls into a nice pocket that the listener might wish she'd remain in for a little while longer." Christopher R. Weingarten of ''

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' added, "...''Emily’s D+Evolution'' is a far more ambitious and thornier affair. The lyrics, flowing in disjunctive clusters, are about deleted narratives, glass ceilings and dreams deferred – ultimately a complex, funky prog-rock concept opera about love and identity.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Emily's D+Evolution''. ;Main personnel *

– vocals, bass (tracks 1-11, 13, 14), piano (10, 12), bass synthesizer (12) * Matthew Stevens – guitar *

Karriem Riggins Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, record producer, DJ and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He met Chicago rapper Common and fellow Detroit musician J Dilla both in 1996, and served as an extensive contributor for releases by both ...

– drums (2-5, 7, 8, 10, 13), percussion (9) * Justin Tyson – drums (1, 6, 11, 12, 14) * Corey King – backing vocals (1, 2, 5-7, 12-14), synthesizer (6), trombone (8), keyboards (12) * Emily Elbert – backing vocals (1, 6, 11, 12, 14) * Nadia Washington – backing vocals (2, 5, 7, 13) * Celeste Butler, Fred Martin, Katriz Trinidad, Kimberly L. Cook-Ratliff – backing vocals (11) ;Additional personnel *

– production *

– production (2-5, 7-10, 13), mixing (2-5, 7, 9, 10) * Kyle Hoffman – engineering * Tim Price – engineering * Erin Tonkon, Kyle McAulay, Martin Cooke, Nicolas Fournier – assistant engineering *

Rich Costey Richard Costey is an American music producer, mixer, and engineer. He has worked with musicians across genres including rock, indie, pop, hip-hop, and electronica. Notable collaborators include Fiona Apple, Vampire Weekend, Foo Fighters, Sig ...

– mixing (1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13) * Mario Borgatta – assistant mixing * Paul Blakemore – mastering * Lawrence Azerrad – graphics, design * Holly Andres – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Esperanza Spalding albums 2016 albums Albums produced by Tony Visconti