Joss Stone brings 20-year career celebration to Brazil: “We grew together”

At 37 years old, mother of Violet and Shackletonwith more than a dozen albums released and countless trips around the world, Joss Stone is no longer the same teenager she was 20 years ago, who surprised everyone by singing songs by great artists such as Aretha Franklin, Waylon Jennings and The White Stripes on their first album, The Soul Sessionswith the voice and soul of soul legends.

If a 16-year-old girl from England knew nothing about pain — criticism that Joss makes a point of remembering in medley live album opening 20 Years of Soul, released in June —, today the artist knows that, despite some painful lyrics here and there, her music is good for her fans, who continue to be by her side even two decades later:

“I feel like we grew up together, because we’re the same age, right? We’ve been through so much, all these different albums and moments. We did it as a team, in a way.”stated Joss in an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil.

With a voice that automatically places her among the best vocalists in the world, the artist believes that her calling is to use music to care for people: “I know people like it [da música]so I believe that is my purpose. Everyone has a different purpose”he declared. “I want people to feel good. I want people to feel heard, understood and comforted, and I would like to be a part of that.”

“So singing, for me, has been the most magical way to do that. I see people have a sense of relief. When I’m on stage, I can see people in the front row. And I’m like, ‘How are you? We’re going through this together. ‘ And I see them singing along with me and having a great time.”continued Joss.

“It’s crazy how much pleasure can come from a collection of musical notes put together. It’s magical. It’s very magical. And for me, it’s easy to do. So that’s why I want to keep doing it. I think that’s part of the magic. Real magic, not the made-up kind.”he completed.

Literally, Joss Stone didn’t want to celebrate 20 years of career in the 21st year: “I couldn’t”

Starting this Thursday, September 19th, with a presentation at Rock in Rio, Joss Stone brings to Brazil its most recent tour, Ellipsis. Named after the ellipsis — the three dots at the end of a sentence, which provide continuity to the sentence — the idea is to navigate freely through your repertoire: “U“my continuation of the fun”as defined by the artist herself.

“After [a turnê] 20 Years of Soul, [que celebrou vinte anos do lançamento de seu primeiro álbum]we didn’t know where to go. We were like, ‘Well, that was fucking amazing. Should we do that again?'” recalled.

“Everyone was campaigning for me to continue the 20-year tour. And I, quite literally, couldn’t do it. I said, ‘Guys, it’s 21 years. [agora]. We can’t celebrate 20 years in the 21st year. That’s weird.’ So I said, ‘No, we need to do a new show.'”he added.

On the new tour, Joss still celebrates its 20-year career, but in a different way: “I decided to take the opportunity to play songs that I haven’t played in a while. We kind of dusted some of them off.”revealed.

“One I love is Stoned Out Of My Mind. This one is really cool and is in the The Soul Sessions: Volume 2 [de 2012]. And I hadn’t touched it in ages”he added Joss. “And there’s another one that I’ve been actively avoiding for probably 15 years. And people have been asking for that song a lot. The song is called Spoiled.”

“Everybody loves that song, but I didn’t want to sing it because I had so much emotion attached to it. And there was so much in that song that hurt me. So over the years, people would ask me to play it. Spoiled and I pretended not to hear them. I avoided them”he clarified.

“These songs don’t come out of nowhere, they come from an experience that I want to forget, or a beautiful experience that went wrong. And then I couldn’t sing anymore, because I was thinking about the beauty [da experiência] and I didn’t want to think anymore”continued Joss. “But now, many years have passed and I’ve really gotten over it. I’ve really gotten over the pain. Now I can go back to love.”

In addition to the classics, Joss also wants to bring news to the public. At the request of the eldest daughter, Violetthe artist intends to release a dance album, inspired by artists from soul from the 1970s, as Marvin Gayeand disco music:

“My daughter has shown me very clearly that she likes dance music. And as you know, I never did dance music. I played all kinds of soul musicbut she is obsessed with dance music. And then my son also asked for dance, dance, dance. Okay, screw it. I’m going to have to record a dance album.”he said.

Even though the album is still just an idea, Joss intends to add some new features to the presentations in Brazil: “In the show, I have one of the [novas] songs, which is basically about dancing your pain away. Because sometimes you have to. If you’re having a bad day, you have to turn on some loud music and dance your pain away. Just get that shit away.”he explained.

“So I took a snippet and the chorus, which is about being with your friends, and I kind of stuck it in the middle of a medley of disk. We have these old songs, that everyone knows, celebrating disk as a musical genre, and I put one of my songs there”completed the artist.

“There’s no doubt that people are loving it,” says Joss Stone about shows in Brazil

In addition to performing at Rock in Rio, Joss Stone takes the tour Ellipsis to Ribeirão Preto, in São Paulo, on Saturday (21); to Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, on Sunday (22); and ends another visit to Brazil again in São Paulo, at Espaço Unimed (Rua Tagipuru, 795 – Barra Funda), on Tuesday, September 24 — tickets for the final performance are still available.

THE Rolling Stone Brazilthe artist, who has come to the country several times since her debut in 2008, revealed that she keeps coming back because of the Brazilians, who are not shy about showing that they know how to enjoy a good show:

“Every country has a different culture and a different reaction. If you’re in a country with a different culture, and people are a little bit more rigid, it can be very intimidating for you. It’s a less enjoyable experience because you’re like, ‘Oh my God, are they happy? Are they sad?’ Sometimes you go somewhere and the audience is literally sitting there and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, they’re hating it.'”explained the artist.

“You don’t have this problem in Brazil. There’s no doubt that people are having a good time. It’s like a validation of what we’re doing.”added Joss. “When you go to Brazil, they say they like it. So you feel more comfortable. I think you feel more accepted and less scared. It’s a different experience.”

“That’s why I come back. And that’s why I feel at home, because you don’t make me feel like an outsider. You make me feel like part of the family. I’m supported.”completed the artist.