For someone who came seventh place on American Idol ten years ago, Jennifer Kate Hudson hasn't done too badly for herself. An Academy Award, a Golden Globe and two albums later, she's done better than most of that show's "winners". But after 2008's winning self-titled debut album, the 2011 follow-up I Remember Me wasn't as loved, so now knowing which side her bread is buttered on (and how to avoid it), the slimmed down Hudson returns with an image overhaul and a short, sharp shock of an album.
Ten songs, only one ballad to close out proceedings, and with the hottest producers and smartly chosen contributing artists, JHUD is highly reminiscent of Beyonce's B'Day album; a highly accomplished artist sitting back and having a good time, and making sure we all are, too.
The 1970s are all over this album, right from the get-go with most recent single "Dangerous", with Hudson seduced by a bad boy who is turning her into a bad girl: ‘I do it for the thrill / Even if it kills / Like no hands on motorbike / Like brass knuckles in a street fight', all against a Nile Rodgers-esque guitar lick and some seriously funky synths. "It's Your World" is a duet with R.Kelly, and again they're both singing from the dark corner of your local roller disco. Hudson's obviously outstanding set of pipes are pushed to the limit by her almost limitless elongation of ‘World' during that killer chorus, while Kelly doesn't come off too badly, either.
Even the more modern productions still sound heavily inspired by that decade, as on "Walk It Out" and "He Ain't Goin' Nowhere", produced by Timbaland and Pharrell respectively, both guaranteed to get your coolest auntie up dancing at the next family gathering. Pharrell returns to oversee "I Can't Describe (The Way I Feel)", the perfect mid-point on the album between rearview-mirror influences and forward-looking soundscapes, especially since Pharrell brings the likes of Iggy Azalea and T.I. on board for rap verse assistance.
"I Still Love You" has future hit single written all over it, with Hudson channelling Diana Ross to the point you'd need to check she hasn't been wholly possessed; a pure dancing diva moment with a stomping beat before exploding into a chorus that sounds both heartbroken and empowered. From Ross we then move on to Chic, with "Just That Type Of Girl" driven by a propulsive drum not unlike "Chic Cheer" (or for younger audience members, Fatman Scoop's "Be Faithful"), as Hudson sings about one of the album's limited motifs: Girl Power. "Say It" continues that in that vein, but with a filthy funk-guitar riding alongside with Hudson's want of a good man's love, the lyrics reading desperate (‘Tell me you love me/tell me you need me too'), but with JHUD as the medium they sound anything but.
Admittedly the depth of this album isn't exactly burrowing into its artist's soul, but when she's clearly having this much fun, does everything really need to be so heavy and depressing all of the time? We wouldn't expect Thom Yorke to fill a dance-floor, so why condemn Hudson for lighting up our day? Not to say that she's entirely without depth here, with the seven minute long "Moan" to show she's still one of the best voices to hear a powerful ballad sung from (even Beyonce had to slow it down for "Irreplaceable" on B'Day), as she sings about her mother and the cathartic nature of a good cry.
With competing artists looking past EDM and dub-step for the next new sound – Mary J Blige is heading into deep house, Beyonce went into alt-R&B, Keyshia Cole is still stuck in hip-hop – it's up to Hudson to buck the trend and remind us that fashion is cyclical, the sound of the 70s were fantastic, and to hit in the disco, because it's all good in the HUD.
Review by Rory Cashin | FOUR POINT FIVE STARS
