Peter’s Take: Fergie’s Double Dutchess
Originally Published September 29, 2017
By Peter Wedlake
After an over decade long solo hiatus, Fergie is back!
On September 22nd, Fergie released Double Dutchess, the follow up to her 2006 multi-platinum solo debut, The Dutchess. Fergie’s new work, like her previous, can’t be summed up into one, singular genre. It exists in an eclectic plane, drawing influence from hip-hop, jazz, modern pop, reggae and R&B. By no means is Double Dutchess a musical innovation. But does it have to be?
Double Dutchess has no discernible theme or style. While the songs all vary in production and lyrical makeup, none of them seem out of place or take away from the album as a whole.
Fergie shines with her upbeat, club-ready songs like the Nicki Minaj collaboration, “You Already Know,” the sexually provocative “M.I.L.F. $,” and the electro-hop driven, YG collaboration, “L.A. Love (la la).”
Reminiscent of her previous hits, namely “Fergalicous,” and “Glamorous,” Fergie shows us that she still knows how to create a classic weekend party song. Although not a traditional club-banger, another upbeat song that shines is “Enchanté,” a lighter, tropical themed, synthesizer driven song, featuring her four year old son, Axl Jack singing in french.
One surprise is the intensity of her ballads. Her powerful, yet charming voice breaks through the heavy beat of “A Little Work,” a song dealing with the imperfection and fragility of people.
Her smooth vocals are greatly contrasted with equally grizzly vocals in “Save It Til Morning,” lyrically, a song tackling relationships with conflicts; what I like most about this song is its restraint from being strictly romantic, instead it’s applicable to friendships as much as it is to tender relationships.
“Love Is Pain,” is an interesting song to write about, taking up 7 minutes and 9 seconds, it’s an oddity on the album. In it, you can feel the emotional restraint gripping you. Fergie’s deep pipes soothe you on a track where the lyrics could easily cause anxiety about failed relationships. The spaced out piano and present, muffled drum are contrasted midway through the track with a singular electric guitar, creating an almost classic rock sensation, a genre that suits Fergie’s powerful voice.
Double Dutchess isn’t perfect by any means, nor is it some political statement like Solange’s A Seat at the Table, or even Katy Perry’s vaguely feministic Witness. Instead, Fergie gives a strong pop album, not meant to be over analyzed or seen as anything more than it is, a fun 57 minutes.
Editor’s Note: The name was updated to reflect more recent album reviews by Mr. Wedlake
