Janet Jackson Control (A&M) Nuovo Testamento Have Control: Chelsey Crowley of Los Angeles / Bologna based alt-synth trio Nuovo Testamento told us about her love for a Janet Jackson classic.
(A&M)
Chelsey Crowley: Personally and collectively, one of our all-time favorite albums is, hands down, Janet Jackson's Control.
It's hard to overemphasize how perfect this record is. My bandmates could talk forever about the percussion, the hooks, the warmth of the production which, in other hands, could have been so cold. For me, Control is a testament to the power of authenticity and confidence, one that continues to reassure me when reassurance is in order. It takes a bunch of seemingly disparate themes and contradictions and fearlessly puts them together to create something brand new, funky yet with the pop effectiveness usually reliant on tired formulas.
Obviously the album is about Janet reclaiming the power to define herself, but it still blows my mind that the end product was allowed to be such a complete and complex portrait of a woman. It's both powerful and flirtatious, vulnerable, shy except when talking about pleasure - all things that have been recurring themes for us. And it's strange! There are some really out-of-the-box choices made throughout Control, things that still feel fresh and inspire us just as much as the rest of it.
Most of the people I know aspire to be this confident, are this strange and love to dance. Thusly, I assert again: this is a perfect record.
Nuovo Testamento Have Control: Nuovo Testamento's single "Heat" is out now. The album Love Lines is out March 3.
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(A&M)