Don't mistake the presence of
Jay-Z and
Beyonce on
Alicia Keys' fourth album as evidence that the singer/songwriter is burrowing into modern R&B -- take it instead as evidence of the rarefied company
Keys keeps, her status as a superstar so solidified that the only cameos possible are R&B/hip-hop elite. Superstars are often given leeway to do anything they want, and so it is on
The Element of Freedom, where
Keys dials back the outward expansion of
As I Am and turns inward, creating a clean, small-scale collection of ballads and
Prince-inspired pop. Always apparent on
Alicia's albums, that
Prince influence is underscored by how she's swapped the retro-soul instrumentation of her earliest music for electronics, but she's retained the warmth, the throwback sensibility and, especially, a sense of reserve, never getting too heated or gauche. This does mean the
Prince elements feel more
NPG than
Revolution, but
Keys trademark always has been an easy elegance. On
The Element of Freedom, that elegance is so easy it borders on the sleepy, with
Keys' understatement undercutting livelier numbers -- chief among them the bubbly
Beyonce duet
"Put It in a Love Song" -- so they play as ballads. This isn't a complaint so much as a characteristic: her voice may crack on
"Love Is My Disease," but
Keys never gets gritty, she remains reserved, never letting her singing or arrangements obscure the melodies or the classy veneer of the entire proceedings. All this determined detachment keeps
The Element of Freedom from packing a primal, passionate punch, but there is charm in
Alicia's enveloping, quiet cool: she may never break a sweat, but she knows how to sustain a sultry, not necessarily sexy, mood, and she does so here quite fetchingly. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Aretha [2021]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0603497846221_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Aretha [2021]")
![Purple Rain [Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0093624930433_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Purple Rain [Deluxe Edition]")
