Alicia Keys has come a long way since her debut in 2001. She has achieved a lot musically and the best thing about her is how she managed to stay true to herself without losing her distinctiveness. The ‘braids-and-beads’ are long gone but her three previous efforts namely, ‘Songs in A Minor’, ‘The Diary of Alicia Keys’ and ‘As I Am’ are all critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums that cemented her status eternally in the music industry as one of the most talented singer/songwriter of our times.

Her latest offering ‘The Element of Freedom’ is the result of her desire to truly be herself upon completion of the recording her inspiring third album ‘As I Am’. Keys quoted as saying that she just wanted to “find the way to totally be myself and what that meant; figuring out what choices I wanted to make and not make in order to truly honor myself”. So she dug deep into her soul and discovers both her strong and vulnerable side which ended up becoming the theme of the album. Using words like ’strong’ and ‘delicate’ in a single sentence to describe the album, the end result is Alicia Keys at her best with her vocal soaring with raw emotions and songs that really captures the essence of freedom written in the title.

The 17-track album started off with an intro when Keys sang, ‘to remain tight and closed in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom’. That beautifully kick start the album before taking further emotional dive into songs like ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’, ‘Distance and Time’, ‘How It Feels to Fly’ as well as the first two singles ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’ and ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart’. Keys ‘delicate’ vocals in each songs are cleverly even out by heavier piano and drum beats; an achievement that she was really proud of. Also included is the part two of her duet with Jay-Z ‘Empire State of Mind’ which being performed this time on her own with extended lyrics and piano solo.

‘The Element of Freedom’ is definitely the perfect album to end 2009 with for its underlying positive notes of how to be free and let go of all the ‘boundaries and limitations’. From the words of Miss Keys herself, “The way that the songs progress [on the album] are gonna take you on a natural high. I just want you to feel a sense of freedom, I want you to feel out-of-the-box, feel inspired, You’re definitely going to be taken on a trip, I know you’re going to be shocked, you’re going to hear things that you probably didn’t think that I would sound like. It’s a journey.” Doesn’t that sounds like a promise?

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