Nothing warms my palate like the return of an artist that has been gone for years. That is how I felt about Anita Baker's return, and always feel when Janet drops a new CD; but there's something different that gets boiling inside of me when it's an artist that is outspoken and innovative. Dionne Farris is such an artist.
She first came on the scene with the "extended family" rap group Arrested Development and sang the lyrics to the hook of "Tennessee" with such soul. ("Won't you help me.") Then she went solo and had the big hit "I Know," a pop ditty from her CD "Wild Seed - Wild Flower." (If you haven't heard it, it is a gem!) Now she's back, 13, yes, thirteen years after "Wild Seed..." And she sounds better than ever.
What is it about Dionne Farris that I love so much? Maybe it is her brashness via her lyrical content. On "Wild Seed..." she wasn't afraid to sing about being sexually abused or growing as a woman. On her return CD, "For Truth if Not Love," she admits to making the mistake of getting involved with a married man. While pondering the meaning of this title, I almost feel like Dionne is saying to her fans, 'This album represents what I felt I needed to say at this point in my life. I deliver it to you because it represents my truth, if not love for the art of music...true, creative expression.'
If you love soulful vocalists, funky music, and lyrics that speak the truth and could only be written from a deep place found in one's soul, treat yourself to Dionne Farris' "For Truth if Not Love." For it speaks one woman's truth, if not her love of her craft. It exposes a woman, deep at her core.
