Dirty Talk in Bloomington, MN

Michi
's
Stones Throw
album debut is the culmination of over a decade in music. The singer and songwriter born
Michelle Guerrero
spent the better part of the 2010s in
Private Island
, playing keyboards and providing secondary vocals, stepping into the spotlight on "Don't Call Me." Comparisons to
Adele
wouldn't have been entirely off-base. From the tail end of the decade into 2021,
released an EP and a few singles of predominantly breezy alt-pop that emphasized the softer and more mellifluous side of her voice. After she left her native Los Angeles for a smaller nearby town, she found a stylistic groove more suited to her. Aided by scholarly new collaborators
Blake Rhein
(of
Durand Jones & the Indications
) and
Paul Cherry
(who has worked with
Anna Burch
,
Eyedress
, and
Dent May
),
teased out the soul and later contemporary R&B influences that were previously just under the surface. There is little actual dirty talk -- just the occasional warranted curse and a well-placed line of self-adulation -- but no matter how beguiling her voice,
isn't the least bit reserved when it comes to expressing what she wants and putting her foot down. The album's first half is all billowy yet stimulating slow jams and midtempo grooves, classed up with rich basslines, hand percussion, and strings. Side Two sharply changes direction with the tough, loved-up disco-house of "There's No Heaven" followed by a Spanish-Portuguese bossa nova duet with
Gabriel da Rosa
. Then comes an achingly fed-up 808 ballad and a glistening highlight that sounds like it was written for
DeBarge
In a Special Way
as an intended showcase for
Bunny DeBarge
. "Way I Do," featuring labelmate
Kiefer
on piano, indicates that
can also stand out in a quieter, more acoustic setting.
Dirty Talk
is at home on the label that counts
Peyton
PSA
Eddie Chacon
Sundown
NxWorries
'
Why Lawd?
among its 2020s crop of progressive R&B albums that have broad appeal despite working outside the constrictions of commercial radio programming. ~ Andy Kellman