Joss Stone, ‘Colour Me Free’ ** 1/2
Joss Stone makes for an unlikely symbol of artistic defiance. Since she emerged in 2003 with a cutesy rendition of the White Stripes’ “Fell in Love With a Girl,” this English soul singer has become a favorite of both romantic-comedy music supervisors and the folks who put together the in-store mix at Starbucks. If your goal is inspiring the bonhomie required to make somebody spring for biscotti, she’s your gal.
Yet here we have the second album in a row on which Stone declares her unwillingness to conform to anyone else’s creative vision. In 2007, after two tidy retro-R&B efforts, came the more free-spirited “Introducing Joss Stone,” with a title that spoke for itself. Two years later, the first track on “Colour Me Free” (Virgin) makes it clear that Stone still feels hemmed in: “Don’t tell me that I won’t/I can,” she sings over a bass-heavy funk groove, “Don’t tell me that I’m not/I am.” Beneath the sleek surfaces of Stone’s work rage the stormy waters of self-definition.
In a strange twist, Stone produced “Colour Me Free” — physical copies of which her American label is selling exclusively through Target — with Jonathan Shorten and Connor Reeves, both of whom contributed to Stone’s 2004 disc, “Mind, Body & Soul.” That means, of course, that she’s now collaborating with the very oppressors who necessitated her reintroduction in 2007. Tricky stuff, record-industry rebellion.
“Colour Me Free” succeeds about as well as Stone’s other records: It’s quite good in the up-tempo bits — check out “Big Ol’ Game,” featuring Raphael Saadiq — and a little soggy in the ballads. This time next year, expect to hear that it reflected some sinister showbiz compromise.