Singer, actress and model Solange Knowles arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" exhibition in New York, May 7, 2012.Lucas Jackson / Reuters/Reuters
"And still I try to lure you into my own hurricane," sings the little sister searching for identity. "It's like you spot me trying from a thousand miles away."
It is understandable that R&B artist Solange, who shares with her older sibling Beyoncé a professional disdain for her given name, looks to make her own mark. Where Bey is major-label diva-elite, the 26-year-old Solange travels with a crowd more hip.
Released on a small label run by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, her new EP True is a collaboration with Dev (Lightspeed Champion) Hynes, a cool kid from London. On Tuesday, the disc's digital release was feted at a Hollywood art space that currently houses an exhibit involving the in-vogue British art-rock trio the xx.
Sure, there's typical R&B fare to True, but the smooth, danceable pop of the winning single Losing You is excited and freshened by the bubbly undercurrent of a party.
The final track Bad Girls moves moodily to the groove of the Cars song Drive. "Who's gonna drive you home?" that song asked. Solange, though, seems comfortable enough at the wheel.
Brad Wheeler