ALICIA by Alicia Keys

ALICIA is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Alicia Keys. It was primarily recorded at Oven Studios and Jungle City Studios, both in New York, after her 2016 album Here and her judgeship on the singing competition series The Voice, before being released by RCA Records on September 18, 2020. Written and produced largely by Keys, the album also features songwriting and production contributions from Swizz Beatz, Ryan Tedder, Johnny McDaid, Ed Sheeran, and The-Dream, among others. Keys collaborated with more artists on the recording than in her previous albums, enlisting vocalists such as Sampha, Tierra Whack, Diamond Platnumz, Snoh Aalegra, and Jill Scott for certain tracks. ALICIA's mostly low-tempo and melodically subtle music reconciles the experimental direction of Here with her earlier work's bass drum-driven R&B and piano-based balladry. Throughout, individual songs incorporate sounds from a wide range of other genres, including orchestral pop, progressive soul, funk, ambient, country, and Caribbean music. Thematically, they explore identity as a multifaceted concept, sociopolitical concerns, and forms of love within the framework of impressionistic lyrics, personal narratives, and self-knowledge. Keys has described the album as therapeutic and reflective of greater introspection in herself, expressing ideas and feelings of hope, frustration, despair, ambivalence, and equanimity shared in her memoir More Myself (2020), which was written during ALICIA's recording. The album was originally scheduled to be released on March 20, 2020, then May 15, before being delayed indefinitely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was marketed with an extended traditional rollout campaign that featured various media appearances by Keys and the release of seven singles, including the Miguel duet "Show Me Love", "Time Machine", "Underdog", and "So Done" (with Khalid). After a surprise announcement of its impending release in September, ALICIA debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 in its first week and became Keys' eighth top-10 record in the US, while charting in the top 10 in several other countries. However, it fell off the US chart a few weeks later. A critical success, ALICIA received praise for Keys' nuanced vocal performances and the music's accessibility, while her thematic messages were considered balanced, healing, and timely against the backdrop of unfolding world events. The singles "Good Job" and "Perfect Way to Die" resonated especially with the importance of essential workers during the pandemic and with the 2020–2021 racial unrest over police brutality in the US, respectively. In further support of the album, Keys is expected to perform in concert from June to September 2022 on ALICIA – The World Tour, which was postponed from 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. ℗ 2020 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment