After eight years of silence, Raphael Saadiq will return in 2019 with his most personal album to date. Jimmy Lee is dedicated to his brother who died because of drug use. Striking here is Saadiq's honest approach. It is not all misery. Drugs not only have a destructive effect, but can also provide happy moments in life. In the end it ends badly and that can be heard especially well on the last songs
… that are largely hidden in a lo-fi haze to indicate the grimness of the junk existence. In this way Saadiq works through all phases of the addiction, wrapped in beautiful soul that reminds us here and there of Prince in his better days. To emphasize the chaotic nature of the life of a junkie, the songs are cut tightly after each other. As a listener you don't get a chance to recover from a song, because the next one has already started. This makes Jimmy Lee even more overwhelming than the collection of impressive soul songs per se. (AD)more
