a color story: Solange's album cover

After the third walk-in in Austin summer weather, ‘me’ legs suggested a quiet invitation to the hotel room’s desk. The literal cool down with a cold shower and coconut water dunked in crushed ice satisfied my physical conditions. But, my soul also required rejuvenation. The sonic world awaited with anticipation as the air-conditioned room wasn’t capable of cooling down my metaphysical world.

In my YouTube feed, a beige thumbnail drew me in. A quick click and I was out of search purgatory — a condition that I enjoyed when searching for the ‘right’ Netflix movie or show. I sipped on my iced beverage and entered the sonic landscape carefully designed by Solange. “Saw things I imagined… Saw things I imagined…” Her first track of the album set the tone. I was at full mercy of her imagination. I was at full mercy to her soul. In Solange’s 2019 Album, “When I get home”, I placed myself in an ironic situation — an escape of the vacation. I’d like to think of my predicament as the anti-vacation. The overwhelming Austin heat or the alluring warmth of home transcended my thoughts into this album. Listening to the album for the nth loop — this time around- impacted me deeply. Could this just be the feeling of electrolytes replenishing my system or could there be more to it?

Even with a down-tempo, I could hardly understand what she was saying. But, that wasn’t the appeal to her music- it was the gentle focus on harmony and utmost authentic quality of control that attracted me to her music. To say the least, I was quite surprised to discover the relationship with Beyonce, a direct sister relationship. While they both had their own channels of stardom, the argument placing Solange as the artist’s artist could be in the discussion when comparing the two. Don’t get me wrong, Beyonce’s Halo track was gorgeous. But, the popularity or oversaturation of being overplayed might have impacted my thoughts on the track. Regardless, Solange’s ‘recent’ music just seemed to be in a class of its own.

Her words felt like they focused on harmony and sometimes in a conversational tone. It almost reminded me of ‘mumble’ rap but to place her music -or soul- would be a passive insult to the landscape she created. Both were forms of musical expression rather than a literal translation I assumed they were open for interpretation and brought a stream of abstraction to a popular category of music. Of course, she could belt out those high notes but unlike Christina Agueilera and other prominent high-pitched singers, Solange seemed to express the higher notes with a subtle soul touch, especially when she does her trademark “ahhs”. Regardless, her vocals pushed the boundaries and I was all for it.

But, as the “words” seemed too familiar and the awkward/unpredictable drum patterns seemed manageable, my attention finally turned back to the album cover. The beige background spoke volumes. If you stare at it long enough, it may seem that Solange was moving in a subtle manner along with the music. I had to double-check whether my physical fatigue from the long humid walks affected my vision.

I found the beige background to be cohesive with the music that I barely noticed the funky, complete-nonsense sunglasses. In all honesty, I thought it was a new wave of makeup trends focusing on a new shape of eyelashes. With social media driving the trends, I believed anything could go in the world of makeup; it didn’t help that virtual filters also added another layer of illusion. But, Solange wouldn’t contort her personal brand in that convenience, especially after her all-revealing look in her groundbreaking album in “A Seat in the Table”. How silly of me to think of such a notion of mixing makeup with her nouveau soul brand?

The similarities of her last two albums also possessed different shades of beige as the album background. With the help of the internet and a dash of humility, I searched for the meaning of beige. The various interpretations led to an answer that I could live with.

Tranquility. It sounded like the name of Solange’s Zen garden. Or better yet, the word described the zen in her music.

Again, with the help of google and a dash of humility, I searched once again. It was a fancy word for calm. I’d rather describe it as a gentle sophistication of calmness — I could imagine the style magazine, Monocle describing tranquility in this bougie-esque ways. Or perhaps, a flux of oozing subtle pondering confidence? I could go on and on. Sometimes a color could speak louder than a lofty arrangement of pretentious words.

I’d like to think of myself as calm and gentle. But, in the exploration of Solange’s beige background, I reflected on my state of mind which revealed a “pseudo-gentle” personality.

Returning back to the audio landscape, I accepted my pursuit of the gentle soul. So, I took a nap.

But, I heard “Dreams… they come a long way, not today”…