Album reviews: ‘The Lion King,’ Willow and Jaden Smith, and Delbert McClinton

Various Artists

The Lion King: The Gift (Original Soundtrack)

(Walt Disney ***)

When Beyoncé repeatedly intones “You’re part of something way bigger” on the sweeping opening song “Bigger,” she could be singing her own personal mantra. For an artist who prizes significance higher than the art itself, she’s made a lot of great art. It’s certainly not fair to her that Kendrick Lamar (who appears here, natch) preceded her own curated fantasia of African musicians and black American pop royalty with the astonishing Black Panther soundtrack, whose significance was the art itself. But a clutch of the 14 true songs here are excellent anyway, and they’re usually hers. There’s the addictive, club-ready “Water” with Pharrell and Salatiel, the subtly dembow-inflected love letter to (and with) Blue Ivy “Brown Skin Girl,” the lovely Swahili-sung climax of “Otherside,” and the war-ready “My Power” featuring Philly’s finest, the always-on Tierra Whack, who could power an entire animated flick and its soundtrack all by herself. The esteemed likes of Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, Childish Gambino, Jay-Z, and Kendrick are all too polite, though, as if they’re afraid of upstaging their host. As if. — Dan Weiss

Jaden Smith

ERYS

(MSFTS MUSIC/Roc Nation **½)

Willow

Willow

WILLOW

(MSFTS MUSIC/Roc Nation/Republic **½)

This is hardly the first time that the children of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, a.k.a. Overbrook’s finest, have made music. Willow’s 2010 pop-hoppy “Whip My Hair” went double-platinum, making her the youngest artist to do so. Brother Jaden that same year flirted with guest features (including Justin Bieber’s "Never Say Never”), and dropped his own kitchen-sink-filled debut album, SYRE, in 2017. This is, however, the first time the siblings have released new music in which they seem so sonically and spiritually aligned. That is to say, goofy.

Inspired by Kid Cudi and Tyler, the Creator (both of whom appear on ERYS), Jaden’s sophomore effort is more straight-ahead rap than his new wave-hip hop-EDM debut. Like its predecessor, ERYS is weirdly focused on a single central character, this time driven, then destroyed, by crushing ego. The overall production of ERYS is rhythmically complex, maybe too much, but melodically mostly flat, and boasts such as “I’m Han Solo with the rips/Kobe with the pass, had to hit it no assist,” don’t have the musicality to back them up.

Willow is more confident a vocalist than her brother, and her Willow isn’t quite so top-loaded with octave switches and scratchy reverb. Instead, she chirps her way through the singsongy “Like a Bird” and the positively empowered “Female Energy Part 2” with charm and gusto. As with ERYS, however, eventually Willow’s lack of solid melody lets her down and the album begins to rely on production tricks on too-aptly-titled tracks like “Overthinking It.” — A.D. Amorosi

Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana

Tall, Dark and Handsome

(Thirty Tigers ***½)

“News travels fast when somethin’ good comes around,” Delbert McClinton sings over the horn-stoked R&B of his new album’s first track. In this case, it’s the imminent arrival of a master showman: “Heatin’ things up and coolin’ things down / Mr. Smith is back in town.”

That sure sounds a lot like McClinton himself, who decades ago forged his enduring and indelible blend of rock, blues, country, and soul and at 78 remains as sharp as ever. On Tall, Dark and Handsome, the Nashville-based Texas native shows he can still heat things up with roadhouse romps like “Mr. Smith,” “Loudmouth,” and “Down in Mexico.” And he also cools things down, with the likes of the jazzy hipster tale “Ruby and Jules” and the aching “Temporarily Insane,” his frayed drawl adding poignancy to the ballad. Holding it all together is the vivid, streetwise character he brings to all these original numbers.

As a result, you might find another line from “Mr. Smith” applies: “When the band tried to stop/ The people were yelling for more.” — Nick Cristiano