India.Arie
SongVersation
(Motown)

Six years later, India.Arie is back with Motown Records creating, encouraging and sharing the music her fans have loved since 2001’s Acoustic Soul. Though it’s been four years since her last album, Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics (Republic), from the beginning of SongVersation, you feel that the singer-songwriter is in a much better place emotionally as well as creatively.

Recorded in Atlanta and Los Angeles, the energy of the project is just as honest and introspective as is upbeat yet melodic. Tracks like “Just Do You” (“Somebody’s got to be a star/Just do you/Somebody’s got to raise the bar”), lead single “Cocoa Butter” (“Your love is like cocoa butter on my heart/I show you my burns/You show me lessons learned”) spills over with that signature empowering and loving vibe.

SongVersation includes 20 tracks, 11 of which feature Turkish musicians, including percussionists, horn players, and an oudist. Gramps Morgan from famed reggae band Morgan Heritage appears on the lovely “Thy Will Be Done.”