Solange Knowles Keeps Doing Her Own Thing Despite Big Sis Beyonce’s Enormous Shadow

Solange Knowles has always made daring and interesting music. I actually bought her debut album and it was very good. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what she does because she will always be Beyonce’s little sister. That enormous shadow is all but impossible to escape but to her credit, she keeps on keeping on and making music. This latest track, “Lovers In The Parking Lot,” is more unconventional music from the little engine that could.

This track is absent any of the trappings of contemporary R&B. No snare drums, no rap verse, no predictable retread rhythm. There’s a quite a few moving parts, a hard drum with a tiny percolation in the back ground, plunking chunk piano strikes and a digital steel drum like loop. There is a slightly menacing bassline and a keyboard undercurrent that escalates near the break.

This song finds Solange as the reluctant lover, knowing that her paramour is more head over heels than she is but still playing with his heart. Now that he’s hip to it as well and has pulled back, she finds herself missing that attention and that genuine love. That’s the way the game goes. “I played around with your heart, now I’m playing around in the dark.” Indeed. Now she wants him back. Good luck with that.

Read more: Odeisel, Planet Ill

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