Solange carries her history like a talisman. Its there to remind her and us how to remain grounded while moving forward. WithWhen I Get Home, she pays tribute to her roots in Houston by presenting a therapeutic and transfixing scrapbook that seamlessly brings together the past and the future of her home.
With 19 songs the clock in at under 40 minutes total, Solanges tribute takes an unusual form. She offers brief but potent statements; over half the tracks are under three minutes and each one bleeds into the other like watercolors on her canvas. Even more interestingly, the album, even with its short, punk-length songs, never feels rushed. In fact, it moves like molasses even when the flo and the freakn get the BPM up ever so slightly. Every moment, beat, sample and feature feel carefully constructed and articulated, and for Solange, thats just her default mode of creation.
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Launching with the wistful Things I Imagined,When I Get Homeunfolds a much dreamier, less introspective collection than her watershed 2016 LPA Seat at the Table. If her preceding release was her statement of purpose on black female identity,When I Get Homeis her putting those thesis points into action. Its the product of a woman set free that not only imagines but enforces an existence that is untethered to anything but the place where she feels she belongs at that moment.
Like Solange herself, the music on Homeis unrestrained and freeform. Its jazzy, funky, brassy and warm. It can be soft and earnest, as on a track like the subdued but open Dreams. Other times, it is bold and candy-painted like the cars she passed every day while growing up in the Third Ward (see the body-roll ready, Metro Boomin-assisted Stay Flo). Across the board, she balances her roles as both R&B priestess burning sage over the worlds chaos and amenable kickback hostess keeping the brown liquor pouring all night with such ease that by the end ofHome, her modes of music become absolutely indistinguishable from one another.
Guests pop up like old friends stopping in to say hello. Panda Bear, Tyler, the Creator, Gucci Mane, Playboi Carti, Abra and more offer seemingly unassuming but incredibly meaningful appearances, harmonizing effortlessly with the master of ceremonies. In Solanges world, a collaborator doesnt just absorb the vision shes presenting, they help inspire it. Even the albums samples Diamond and Princess of Crime Mobbs playful fight for the microphone and Goddess Lula Belles reassuring reminder to do nothing without intention become more than just support for Solanges points; by serving as independent interludes they are statements in themselves.
Solanges growth as an artist has been one of musics most fascinating stories, and, likeA Seat at the Table,When I Get Homeserves as a thrilling reminder that this is just the beginning of the futures she still has yet to unpack. If she can make a party-friendly album so meaningful, weve barely even witnessed the tip of her vision.