| Jaime | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Brittany Howard |
| Cover: | Brittany Howard - Jaime.jpg |
| Alt: | A photo of Howard's face |
| Recorded: | 2018 |
| Studio: | Electro Vox and Subtle McNugget, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Length: | 35:26 |
| Label: | ATO |
| Producer: | Brittany Howard |
| Next Title: | Jaime (Reimagined) |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
Jaime is the debut solo studio album from Brittany Howard, released on September 20, 2019, via ATO Records. It has received acclaim from critics and has been nominated for several awards; it was a moderate sales success, appearing on several charts. The album is a mix of several musical styles that reflects intimate events and perspectives in Howard's life, which she supported with her first solo tour.
The album is the first solo work from Howard, who has previously recorded with Alabama Shakes. It is dedicated to her sister Jaime, who died of retinoblastoma as a teen. After experiencing writer's block, Howard put Alabama Shakes on hold to pursue side projects and to have complete control over the recording of Jaime in 2018. She reflected on her life as her 30th birthday approached and decided to record an album that explored her personal history and beliefs. In addition to discussing the death of her sister, the album explores growing up poor, the prejudice that her parents faced as an interracial couple, and her struggle with religious faith. She began recording the songs in a greenhouse in Topanga, California before heading to two Los Angeles-based studios to finalize the album.
Jaime has an eclectic style that features elements of synth-rock, blues rock, neo soul, experimental music, psychedelia, soul, gospel, funk, hip hop, contemporary R&B, electronic music, retro-soul, jazz fusion, spoken word, avant-jazz, new age, trap, noise rock, funkadelia, alternative country, power pop, and doo-wop.
According to Ann Powers of Slate, the music is a departure from the revivalist rock of Alabama Shakes, instead exploring a cross between jazz, funk, and soul. Writing for Uproxx, Steven Hyden says Howard abandons typical rock-band dynamics in favor of "darker, weirder, groovier, and more psychedelic" sounds, making it difficult to categorize the album simply as rock, R&B, or jazz. On the other hand, Consequence of Sound explicitly classifies Jaime as a synth-rock album. Pitchforks Sheldon Pearce also observes synth-rock, although in rapid form among other elements, such as experimental psychedelic funk, old school hip hop breakbeats, and tight jazz sounds reminiscent of D'Angelo's 2014 album Black Messiah; his colleague Jillian Mapes also compares the work to D'Angelo as well as Prince and The Roots.
"13th Century Metal" is an avant-jazz and spoken word song that dives into "brilliant" noise rock later on.
The release was accompanied by three singles: "History Repeats" on June25, 2019; "Stay High" on July 16, 2019; and "He Loves Me" on January20, 2020.
Howard also embarked on her first solo tour in promotion of the album. On the road, she and her backing band eschewed Alabama Shakes songs and only performed works from this album and her other bands.
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 17, 2019 | Asheville | United States | The Orange Peel |
| August 18, 2019 | |||
| August 19, 2019 | Nashville | Ryman Auditorium | |
| August 23, 2019 | Washington | ||
| August 24, 2019 | |||
| September 18, 2019 | Milwaukee | Riverside Theater | |
| September 19, 2019 | Saint Paul | Palace Theatre | |
| September 20, 2019 | Chicago | Riviera Theatre | |
| September 22, 2019 | Toronto | Canada | Rebel |
| September 24, 2019 | New York City | United States | Beacon Theatre |
| September 25, 2019 | Boston | House of Blues | |
| September 27, 2019 | Philadelphia | The Fillmore Philadelphia | |
| October 5, 2017 | Austin | Zilker Park | |
| October 8, 2019 | Los Angeles | Theatre at Ace Hotel | |
| October 9, 2019 | |||
| October 12, 2019 | Austin | Zilker Park | |
| October 13, 2019 | Atlanta | 787 Windsor |
Howard also performed a set for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series and made promotional appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2019 and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Today in 2020. Planned 2020 performances were canceled or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Music videos for "Stay High" and "He Loves Me" were released, with the former featuring Terry Crews lip syncing the song.
AnyDecentMusic? characterized the critical consensus of 20sources as an 8.2 out of 10 and Album of the Year gave it an 83 out of 100, with 20reviews.
Reviewing for Uproxx, Hyden praised the album for its differences from Howard's previous work and genre-bending mix of funk, jazz, and hip-hop. In Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan highlighted the Southern culture elements of the lyrics and summing up that her lyrics in "Georgia" make a "strikingly bold moment on a record that's full of them". Pitchfork awarded Jaime the distinction of "Best New Music", with Pearce describing it as a "thrilling opus that pushes the boundaries of voice, sound, and soul to new extremes". The Guardians Ben Beaumont-Thomas called it "emotionally as well as musically varied" and concluded that solo projects "are rarely as beautiful as they are here". In Under the Radar, Celine Teo-Blockey found her cross-genre experimentation "stunning". Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed the album will warrant repeated listening, with "subsequent spins... profound and nourishing". In a year-end essay for Slate, Powers cited as Jaime one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Howard, whose "stunning" album "went deep to reveal the joys and pain of her experience as an embodiment of that elusive state: intersectionality".
The album opener "History Repeats" received two nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance Both "13th Century Metal" and "Stay High" were included on Pitchfork's list of the best songs of 2019, placing at number 98 and 42 respectively. Howard was nominated for Artist of the Year, Jaime for Album of the Year, and "Stay High" for Song of the Year at the 2020 Americana Music Honors & Awards. The album was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist at the 31st GLAAD Media Awards.
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| The A.V. Club | The 20 Best Albums of 2019 | 11 |
| Billboard | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 17 |
| Clash | Clash Albums of the Year 2019 | 39 |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 19 |
| Entertainment Weekly | The Best Albums of 2019 | 6 |
| Exclaim! | 20 Best Pop and Rock Albums of 2019 | 13 |
| The Guardian | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 32 |
| The New York Times | Best Albums of 2019 | 2 |
| Paste | The 34 Best Albums of 2019 | 6 |
| Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 12 |
| Rolling Stone | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 15 |
| Slate | The Best Albums of 2019 | — |
| Slant | The 25 Best of Albums of 2019 | 24 |
| Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2019 | 45 |
| Uproxx | The Best Albums of 2019 | 23 |
| Vice Media | The 100 Best Albums of 2019 | 79 |
All songs written and produced by Brittany Howard, except where noted
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
| Chart (2019) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 34 | |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 182 | |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 98 | |
| US Alternative Albums (Billboard) | 3 | |
| US Americana/Folk Albums (Billboard) | 1 | |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 2 | |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) | 2 |
| Chart (2019) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Top Current Album Sales | 169 | |
| US Independent Albums | 26 |
| Jaime (Reimagined) | |
| Type: | remix |
| Artist: | Brittany Howard |
| Cover: | Jaime reimagined.jpg |
| Alt: | A collage of colors |
| Length: | 47:53 |
| Label: | ATO |
| Prev Title: | Jaime |
| Prev Year: | 2019 |
| Next Title: | What Now |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
Jaime (Reimagined) is the first remix album by American musician Brittany Howard. The album collects remixes of songs from her 2019 debut studio album Jaime. It was released digitally on July 23, 2021, by ATO Records, with vinyl copies shipping in September 2021. Three of the album's remixes appeared on the Jaime (The Remixes) EP released in 2020.
At the 2022 Libera Awards, Jaime (Reimagined) received a nomination for Best R&B Record. Additionally, album track "Stay High again.." was nominated for Best Dance Record.
Radio station KCRW listed the album as the fifth best of 2021, saying "this collection is pretty much an entirely new album where the versions sound totally different, but with a great deal of respect to the original body of work. Sometimes it's good to be challenged, and Jaime (Reimagined) does just that in a very unique and uplifting way."
All songs written by Brittany Howard, except where noted
Additional personnel include:
Initial releases lack the first track.
| Date | Format | Version | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | September 20, 2019 | Jaime | ATO | |
| September 17, 2020 | The Remixes version 1 | |||
| December 8, 2020 | The Remixes version 2 | |||
| July 23, 2021 | Reimagined | |||
| September 24, 2021 | LP |