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Feb 19, 2019There’s no song here that would make an encore, but Hello Happiness is a vital calling card to remind everyone to come hear this unearthly voice, still sizzling with spice.
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Q MagazineFeb 15, 2019Khan's own incomparable pipes as blast-proof as ever, her first studio album since 2007 stands comparison with its stellar single. [Apr 2019, p.113]
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UncutFeb 22, 2019An unexpectedly impressive comeback. [Apr 2019, p.32]
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Feb 19, 2019It’s worth applauding Khan, who turns 66 next month, for continuing to make an album as vital and contemporary-sounding as Hello Happiness.
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Mar 5, 2019It's clear that Hello Happiness is not the full album experience. Still, a few easy summer hits from Khan are a treat.
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Feb 15, 2019“Sugar” carved out a path to the dancefloor, but it also made Khan sound like a heavily filtered singer-for-hire as she belted out the hook. The song anchors “Hello Happiness,” and the remaining six tracks are essentially more of the same, with Khan’s voice rarely in the forefront. Her vocals become just another texture in stretches of the title track. ... “Too Hot” provides the sole exception. ... It’s terrific.
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Feb 19, 2019Without something steady to anchor it all, Hello Happiness sound less like an album and more like a compilation of stand-alones.
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MojoFeb 15, 2019Hello Happiness is indeed groove heavy, but gives too little for a singer of Chaka's ability to, well, sing - which is a shame, because on the occasions she does find space to stretch out her soaring voice seems to have retained its strength, tone and power. [Mar 2019, p.96]
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Feb 15, 2019Best of the lot is "Isn't That Enough," built on a loping riddim in the mold of Sly & Robbie's work on Grace Jones' cover of "Nightclubbing," though Khan is uninhibited and impassioned, as always. Even when a surplus of synthesizers, organs, and flame-throwing guitars threaten to overtake her elsewhere, she cuts straight through with full-tilt, life-affirming power.
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Feb 15, 2019The irresistible funk of lead single Like Sugar cleverly creates pockets of space for Khan’s rip-roaring vocal interjections to fade in and out, as if she’s having so much fun dancing she forgot to step up to the mic. The album sags, however, when the production starts to encroach on the star.
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Feb 20, 2019Hello Happiness is a messy, overproduced, anonymous set of hotel-lobby beats that makes woeful use of one of the greatest voices of all time. ... There’s a moment when Hello Happiness works. On the sensual and affirming closing track, “Ladylike,” Chaka Khan finally breaks free of vocal effects.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 15
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Mixed: 5 out of 15
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Negative: 3 out of 15
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Jun 30, 2020
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Jun 7, 2019
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Feb 26, 2019