The first time I heard Problem was about ten months ago. Natalia and I were sitting at The Smile in New York when she played it to me on her MacBook. It hadn’t been mastered, the pace was slightly different from what it is now and it was pretty new at the time, even to her. The next day we went to XL where she performed a live four(ish)-track PA – most of which I have recorded on my phone…somewhere. The set was outstanding and she debuted Problem live for the first time. Teasing the track out has been a long process – with the occasional live set, various leaks and demos surfacing and now the final edit, which went on iTunes today.
I mentioned when the artwork landed a week ago that this album is set to re-redefine pop as it stands – and after you buy/hear Problem – I’d dare you to refute this statement. Kills has single handedly (and when I say single handedly, I fully acknowledge the fact that she has been working tirelessly with visionary Jeff Bhasker on Trouble – but the play-out is and has always been hers) created a new genre/sub-genre with this sound – it’s raw, lyrically perfectly genius and what she described to Brad/MuuMuse as “cuntstrut”.
Natalia has impeccable taste (across music, fashion, culture, creative direction), she outrightly says that she has (I want to use the word) designed this album for herself, but it’s more than that, she’s taking it to another level. Making daring and ambitious moves for a sophomore record where expectations from the core fanbase are ultra-high, but from the industry perhaps lower. To see where it fares will be interesting, but if you like what you hear, buy it, share it, Tweet it, tell your friends, play it in a club, listen to it in the gym because Kills deserves it. No-one works harder at this game and no-one deserves it more.
