Deborah Harry
Necessary Evil
Five Seven Music
By J. Poet
Deborah Harry has had her ups and downs since the breakup of Blondie, torn between the desire to age gracefully and her need to return to the pop successes of her former band. Both of these impulses are evident on Necessary Evil, as is the omnivorous genre hopping that made Blondie so hard to pin down. Jazz, hip hop lite, world music, funk, classic rock, new wave (only not so new now, eh?) and other styles alternately clash and compliment each other. And while it doesn’t sound as fresh as it did in the band’s commercial heyday, it proves that Harry still has the plenty of tricks up her sleeve as well as something to prove.
Super Buddha, the production team of Barb Morrison and Charles Nieland, help out here; recreating the sound of vintage Blondie one moment, while delving into uncharted (for Harry, at least) waters with “Heat Of The Moment,” a tune with a bottom heavy Brazilian hip-hop groove, the next. Harry’s vocal is negligible here, floating disembodied through the mix, but it proves she’s still willing to take risks. “Naked Eye,” composed and produced with her old Blondie partner Chris Stein, has a Arabic feel with a sinuous melody and a desolate vocal from Harry that intensifies the track’s mysterious aura. “Paradise,” composed by Jazz Passenger Roy Nathanson, has a late night New York vibe and a smoky vocal that intensifies its forlorn mood.
On the rockin’ side, Harry’s as playfully sexy as ever on “Deep End.” “Charm Alarm,” a face off with Miss Guy of The Toilet Boys, a band that was originally put together to back Harry on a one off gig, has a thumping beat and raunchy lyrics that make it one of the most playful and lascivious tracks Harry’s ever waxed, a celebration of hot guys dripping with rude attitude.
Harry still looks good and while the voice has gotten a bit rough around the edges, it adds veracity to the album’s slower numbers, on which Harry fares better than on the rockers. It’s hard to be a superstar and grow old gracefully, but Harry manages to do it better than most on Necessary Evil.
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