Here at Outernet, London
“Tonight we are wild, sexy and free.”
An incendiary fusion, fraught within Amaarae's colliding worlds of afrobeats, R&B and modern - sees the rising artist tightroping her best for tonight's confounded audience.
“Diamonds hit the sweat, tattoo on her chest / I like when remedies connect, like angels in Tibet”, trills the soprano voice against begrudging beats and basslines - forthright in her sexual expression amongst the descriptively intimate storytelling on display. Encased in red latex, the singer imminently embodies the intimacy of her liberal repertoire to date, teeming with raucousness at the very heart of such call-and-responses (“In the club! / “It’s whatever you want”). With this, Amaarae ignites her sold-out run of shows here in the nation's capital.
For her recent sophomore LP, Fountain Baby, released to critical acclaim, is what’s gathered many here tonight: a chance to liberate oneself in an eclectic evening of dance-fuelled soundscapes. Such luscious instrumentation on ‘Disguise’ and mid-00’s R&B-esque ‘Princess Going Digital’ invariably play out tonight, casting an unassuming mandate for free-willed expression in all shapes and forms. Whilst the latter careens through a myriad of smoothened, sweetened artistry signposted from R&B’s revered era (Pharrell Williams, Usher, Kelis), the encouraging call-and-response trinkets scarcely paper over the cracks revealed this evening.
Tonight’s backing credentials were merely assumed by two instrumentalists on-stage, a guitarist and drummer/producer - sparsely able to support the demanding needs of Amaarae’s eclectic sounds, samplings and rhythms. ‘Counterfeit’ and ‘Disguise’s insatiable depth in instrumentation inevitably fall flat at their entrance, including the bizarre halftime interlude which proves underwhelming and unimaginative, leading to a tangible apathy from the crowd which lingers thereafter within the acoustic balladry of ‘Reckless & Sweet’.
Whilst the punk-inflected rendition of ‘Sex, Violence, Suicide’ prolongs this crowd-rendered apathy, small surges of enthusiasm sporadically re-surface in moments. Ghanaian compatriot Kojey Radical’s surprise appearance encourages a swarm of phones to instantly emerge amidst ‘Jumping Ship’, whilst ‘Co-Star’ elicits one of the more encouraging responses tonight - seething with sumptuous basslines, igniting furious dance-offs amongst the capricious crowd. Amaarae’s demanding presence could yet have mandated itself throughout tonight’s set - willing for more of the crowd in the celebration of sexual expression braced by a liberty of personal intimacy (“Fire how you move your body / The water on my neck, come make it warm”).
In spite of the slight perplexity felt at the set's encore, repeating her 2020 hit 'Sad Girlz Luv Money’ once more, Amaarae solidifies her status tonight as one of R&B’s most flavourful and appealing acts as of late - prominently pronounced tonight. The muddied waters of her vocal playbacks and restrictive on-stage arrangement hinder, yet, fail to tarnish the trajectory of an artist whose future seems glowingly promising. Strengthened by a repertoire of sexual liberation caked with inimitable vocals bridging the worlds of modern afrobeats and R&B, Amaarae embraces a realm where wildness, sexiness and freedom joyously conflate.
6.5/10
Amaarae's latest LP, Fountain Baby, is out now via Interscope Records and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Nick Haill whose work can be found here.