BUCK C. COOKE
| 10.8.2008
“SHY,” “QUIET,” “SERIOUS.”
All those words could describe Michelle Williams, former member of Destiny’s Child. Many considered Williams part of the scenery in the whirling dervish that became one of the most successful female groups of all time.
But Williams is out to prove she is no shrinking violet. "Unexpected,' her dance-oriented third solo album, fits the bill.
“This is simply another facet of who I have always been,” she says. “I think there have been minor misperceptions of me. Yes, I take my work seriously. I’m a serious performer, and I’m an actress, and I’m a person of faith.
“But I’m also a girl who likes to cut loose,” she adds. “I like to hit the dance floor with my friends and party and laugh. This album is about that side of me.”
Indeed, with the vibrant “Unexpected,” Williams proves that Beyoncé is not the only Child who can shake it. It's is a departure from Williams’ two gospel solo projects, 2002's “Heart to Yours” and “Do You Know” in 2004.
And she doesn't just change genres with this album. She advances music itself. Or at least, that was the goal.
“I didn’t want to just follow trends with these songs,” she says. “I wanted to create new ones. I wanted to bring something different and exciting to the table.
“I’d been working on songs for this album, and it was going well,” Williams adds, “but then I met Rico [Love] and everything changed. We had instant chemistry. We inspired each other. And the sound of this album was born.”
LOVE, WHO HAS WORKED with Fergie and Natasha Bedingfield, co-wrote seven of the album’s 13 tracks.
“We Break the Dawn,” the album’s lead single, represents another feather in the songwriting cap of Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s sister.
“It captures that sensation of being with your people, the folks you love, and taking it from night to day with true celebration,” Williams says. “It’s a song of pure euphoria.”
Remixers from Moto Blanco to Maurice Joshua take the pop-oriented track and transform it into a dance sensation.
Williams turns the album's straight-up dance groove into a slow jam on “The Greatest,” the second single. It plumbs the deeper end of Williams' emotional register sets it to a sharp backbeat. This lady is no one-trick pony.
While “The Greatest” is working its way up the mainstream charts, Williams next dance single “Hello Heartbreak” — even the album version — is a thumping, anthemic track with big beats, big vocals and more drama than you can shake a skinny drag queen at. It's simply diva-licious. iTunes features remixes galore.
WITH ALL OF THE DANCE influence, it's clear that Williams is exploring new territory and pushing her own envelope.
“What I loved about the experience of making this album is that there were no limitations,” she says. “I learned so much about myself as a singer. I learned to use my voice in so many different ways. I feel renewed by this journey. I feel like I’ve climbed and conquered a big, new mountain in life.”
Many fans may only be aware of Williams as a singer, but she also garnered favorable reviews on stage as well as the small screen. She guest- starred as an HIV-positive record executive on UPN's “Half and Half,” and she soared in two acclaimed stage roles: the "Aida" lead on Broadway in 2003, and in the touring cast of "The Color Purple" as Shug Avery.
It's becoming even clearer that this is a woman of considerable talents. Nothing should be "Unexpected" from here on out.
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