The Grammy winner’s activism has kept her in the spotlight more than her music. She founded the We Are Here social justice organization in 2013, and her essay for Lena Dunham’s online magazine, Lenny, in May of this year sparked a million hashtags with her desire to fight pressure to conform by forgoing makeup.
Keys has given up on her recent efforts to keep cellphones out of her shows, and lots of cameras film her arriving at this Apple Music festival event, barefaced, grinning, and dressed in a shapeless T-shirt dress that looks like a gift from Camden market. She starts dancing joyfully to her new song Gospel, a tribute to her hometown from her upcoming sixth album, inspired by the hip-hop of her upbringing.
For the urgent rallying appeal of 28 Thousand Days, Keys stands at her keyboard, her voice loud and forceful. But, since 2001, she’s developed a fine line in the gentle, love-scrutinizing soul, her classic melodies and Motown-indebted sound positioning her as Beyoncé’s sensuous, more introverted younger sister. Keys offers to “give you a basement party,” praising the intimacy of her surroundings. You Don’t Know My Name, as well as Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart and Fallin’, two favorites adorned with big notes, are a good place to grind and groove,” and her honeyed voice does just that.
For Unthinkable (I’m Ready), she’s joined by London soul artist Sampha, who plays his new single Blood on Me, which, despite Keys’ harmonies and admiration, drags on far too long, especially when her own new work is so intriguing.
