Sol Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

Background

Knowles had been working on her second studio album on and off since 2005 following her return home to Houston, Texas, and her divorce from Daniel Smith, with whom she had lived following the birth of their son Daniel Julez in October 2004. The follow-up to the critical and commercial disappointment of 2003's Solo Star was preceded by Knowles's move from Columbia to Geffen Records in late 2007. Knowles was heavily influenced by Motown girl groups such as The Supremes and The Marvelettes, and by her mother Tina, a one-time member of the 1960s harmony group The Veltones, who used to play music by the likes of Dusty Springfield and Martha Reeves to her. Knowles decided to distance herself from the teen pop and dance-pop-oriented R&B sound mainly associated with her previous effort, Solo Star.

Willed to create a concept album revolving around her growth as a musical artist instead, she eventually got into the idea of a "sweet, soulful record [...] based around the Sixties and Seventies, telling stories of where I have been the last couple years." Also borrowing elements from downbeat and electronic music she discovered on recent trips to Europe, her vision of the album eventually resulted in a mixture that Knowles has described as a "'60s/70s vintage soul record with hints of electronica." In an interview with Billboard magazine, Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair said of the album prior to release, "Her record is totally bananas ... It's not what people would expect from her. The music is more electric and international. She's in her own lane."

Recording

Although Knowles had previously worked with a wide range of high-profile producers and songwriters on earlier projects, she struggled to convince her wishlisted musicians to contribute to Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, production-wise. This was due to no producer signing on to the project before hearing any material for the album. "I don't think it was offensive," Knowles admitted. "I understand that these are people that want to take on credible passionate projects. So before I would work with them I would schedule a meeting and play them the record. And then they were more convinced and willing to get on board." Cee-Lo Green and Mark Ronson were not consulted until late into the production of the album, both having been persuaded by Knowles at the 50th Grammy Awards ceremony: "I had to party with Cee-Lo too to get him to work on the record [...] but once he did [listen to my music] he signed on immediately."

Knowles collaborated with several studio personalities, including Jack Splash, Shea Taylor, Mr. Familiar, Lamont Dozier, production teams Soulshock & Karlin and Bama Boyz, as well as singers and rappers Pharrell Williams, Bilal, Q-Tip and Lil Wayne respectively. In addition, Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry lent vocals to the unreleased recording "Wanna Go Back", while Raphael Saadiq and British singer Estelle demoed the track "Same Song, Different Man", which didn’t make it to the final track listing. In an interview with Starpulse, Knowles later said of the experience:

"By the end of the project, I had worked with all of the producers and artists I had ever dreamed of including Q-Tip, Boards of Canada and Mark Ronson ... When I got a call saying the legendary Lamont Dozier would take the time out to write with little old me I was ecstatic beyond words."

Inspired by the aspirations of Knowles's father Mathew, the album was titled after Hadley Street, a plot of land in downtown Houston: "My father took me there one day and told me he was going to build a studio," she said in an interview with the Daily Mail. "The title is a tribute to his vision. He had a plan and he saw it through. That was a real eye-opener for me. It inspired me to dig out my old Marvin Gaye albums and start writing songs."

Singles

The album's lead single, "I Decided", was released on April 22, 2008. It charted at number 44 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, at number one on the Hot Dance Singles Sales and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts, and at number two on the Hot Singles Sales chart. It also peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 6 on the UK R&B Singles Chart. "ChampagneChroniKnightcap" featuring American rapper Lil Wayne was released as a single on August 19. November 25 saw the release of "Sandcastle Disco", which reached the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. "T.O.N.Y." was released as the fourth single on March 31, 2009, topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song also charted at number 31 on Billboard's Adult R&B Songs, and number 62 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

On August 17, 2010, "Wanna Go Back" was released as a single, and an EP of remixes for "I Told You So" was released; the latter charted at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. A similar EP featuring remixes of "Would've Been the One" was released the following week on August 25, and it reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. On October 25, a remix EP was issued for "6 O'Clock Blues".

Release and reception

In promoting the album, Geffen and Music World Entertainment aimed at an "intellectual, backpacking, coffee shop, digital kid" audience. Leading up to its release, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams featured promotional photography of Knowles in an array of costumes and wigs that evoke late 1960s and early 1970s fashion styles. Releaesed on August 26, 2008, the album debuted at number three on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and at number nine on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 46,000 copies. By April 2009, the album had sold 138,000 copies in the United States.

Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 14 reviews. Rob Harvilla from The Village Voice called the album "bizarrely mesmerizing" and felt that some of the material's idiosyncratic and unconventional lyrics invite "inexplicable but highly favorable comparisons to Kate Bush. (Ethereal but powerful, unhinged but in total command.)" Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe referred to the album as a "smartly executed, classy set of songs that's miles away from the hoochie pop being turned out by young female R&B vocalists these days". Pryia Elan of The Times declared it "a modern classic", while Hartford Courant critic Dan LeRoy compared Knowles' music to that of her sister Beyoncé. "Solange combines retro warmth and current cool in ways her more commercially successful sibling probably can't", Leroy wrote. Jaimie Gill of Yahoo! Music called Sol-Angel a "fine, rich and extremely likeable record", and Francis Jones from Hot Press found Solange's singing "sassy and assured". Andy Kellman of AllMusic cited it as "one of the year's more entertaining and easily enjoyable R&B releases" and found it "fun, silly, slightly eccentric and, most importantly, fearless".

Jody Rosen was less enthusiastic in Rolling Stone. He found it "embarrassing" for Knowles to attempt Erykah Badu-inspired psychedelic-soul on tracks such as "Cosmic Journey", and remained unimpressed by her singing and the record's sound, which he compared to "a woozy lava lamp glow." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian called its music "savvy R&B with a gloss you can check your reflection in", but ultimately observed "a lack of both memorable tunes and the steely spined ardour that makes Beyoncé so compelling." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was ambivalent towards its use of sampling on certain songs, but praised "the mix of organic, old-school instrumentation and more electronic elements", which he felt make it "a loose, fun and reverent record." In MSN Music, Robert Christgau gave the album an "honorable mention" and deemed Knowles "privilege's child" who "runs through her options" in a defiant but frothy manner, while naming "Would've Been the One" and "I Decided" as highlights. Vibe's Keith Murphy later named Sol-Angel one of the best R&B albums of the year.

Sample credits

Musicians

Production