nicely packaged in a gatefold jacket - The London Sessions is everything Mary J. Blige has been working towards for what feels like a decade. The soulstress has beaten this album's story into the ground, but it bears repeating: after collaborating with Disclosure and Sam Smith on remixes of their respective singles, "F For You" and "Stay With Me," Blige decided to chase that sound and shipped off to London for the summer to work with such producers as Naughty Boy and Jimmy Napes. Those sessions yielded London, a compact, 12-song project that scurries between traditional, introspective soul (the addiction "Therapy" and self-empowering "Not Loving You") and strobe-ready house ("Right Now" and "Nobody But You"), though one whose such transitions can be a little rough around the edges.
Rather than hiding behind the tools, tricks, and sounds of the present for The London Sessions, the Queen of R&B actually finds her voice through them. This is one of the first times this century that any of her albums has sounded like a true Mary J. product, rather than just the studio-crafted work of heavy-handed producers emphasizing the singer's husky, heartfelt vocals. In an interview with Billboard last month, Blige remembered that Bono had told her to forget singing on key. "People don't care about Mary J. Blige being technically on point," she said he'd told her. "They just want to hear you sing from your heart." That's a mantra that binds London's 12 tracks together. A1 -Mary J. Blige Therapy 3:22 A2 -Mary J. Blige Doubt 3:59 A3 -Mary J. Blige Not Loving You 3:26 B1 -Mary J. Blige When You're Gone 3:24 B2 -Mary J. Blige Right Now 3:49 B3 -Mary J. Blige My Loving 4:25 C1 -Mary J. Blige Long Hard Look 3:36 C2 -Mary J. Blige Whole Damn Year 4:11 C3 -Mary J. Blige Nobody But You 4:38 D1 -Mary J. Blige Pick Me Up 3:07 D2 -Disclosure (3) & Mary J. Blige Follow 4:08 D3 -Mary J. Blige Worth My Time 3:28
