It’s a bold statement on what it means to be a proud and yet sometimes anguished black woman in 2016, and it’s also her most individuated work to date. Solange gets political by also making Seat stunningly personal and poetic.
Musically, it is a lesson on how to slay, using intimate, achingly poetic groove laden candlelight funk. But thematically, ASATT is a celebration of black culture and a comforting embrace to those frustrated by the outside perception, appropriation and misunderstanding of blackness and black history.
A Seat at the Table shines due to Knowles’ unwavering commitment to her own complexity, both musically and personally. You won’t pin her down on the first, second, or third listen, but each listen will give you a better understanding as to why you never will.
A Seat demands a careful listen, and rewards it richly. This is Solange's strongest album to date.
A Seat At The Table – like the headlines of 2016 - is the score of black pain, black rage, black strength and black joy. And for everyone else enjoying the enticing R&B, it's for the rest of us to quiet ourselves, listen, learn and respect.
A Seat at the Table is intensely rich and gracious in its candor, so much so that it’s quieter, painstakingly personal moments are every bit as robust as direct aggression.
The subdued nature of the songs means that they take a few listens to hit home, but once they do, it’s obvious that this stunning and vital record is one of the year’s best.
On A Seat at the Table, Solange with an expansive mix of features and co-producers, continues a legacy of Black cultural production that is not just self-referentially critical, but peaks in spiritual and emotional transcendence.
‘A Seat At The Table’ is an expertly-curated, a near-perfect record that serves as a timely, musical manifesto on how to be black and proud.
Daunting and at times exhausting, A Seat at the Table is still an undeniably important work.
Overall, the sound of this album is not dissimilar to Solange’s previous offerings ... The difference here though, is that there’s much more substance behind her signature harmonies. Solange has imbued this album with a narrative steeped in the experience of blackness in America as well as an engaging, deeply personal insight into her own identity.
It’s safe to say that though big sis Beyoncé has run her close recently, she’s once more the most intriguing Knowles sibling.
Save for the chunky “Don’t You Wait”, there’s little punch or pop charm to the album, which boasts a surfeit of luscious textures and feisty attitudes, but a shortfall of killer melodies.
#1 | / | Clash |
#1 | / | Mashable |
#1 | / | NPR Music |
#1 | / | Pitchfork |
#1 | / | SPIN |
#1 | / | The 405 |
#1 | / | The Vinyl Factory |
#2 | / | Crack Magazine |
#2 | / | Dazed |
#2 | / | FasterLouder |