Noname – Sundial

Another gem chiseled in Chicago, Sundial is the second studio album from the highly gifted American thirty-something Noname – after Room 25 released in 2018, not counting the mixtape Telefone in 2016. Eryn Allen Kane, Jay Electronica, Common, Billy Woods, Ayoni, take part. A dozen beatmakers dedicate themselves to it, including the brilliant Saba. Subtle and evocative in her previous opuses, the poet and rapper’s message is more scathing, more hyper-realistic, less sweet than bitter. The commitment of this black woman capable of exploring her ambivalences and paradoxes (which explains her 5-year recording silence), perfectly aware of all that is at stake in her life as an artist in America, goes hand in hand with her poetic inclinations aimed at the micro and macro of human existence in the Windy City. Solid groovy jazzy soul backdrops support the message, while excellent musicianship and sampling gracefully lift the flow.