, the title of the 's proper debut, is a double signifier. There's the dictionary's definition: "the device in an aircraft that records technical data during a flight, used in case of accident to discover its cause." And there's 's in her liner essay. She defines Black Radio as "representative of the veracity of Black music" which has been "...emulated, envied and countlessly re-imagined by the rest of the world...." With jazz as its backbone, , drummer , bassist , and on reeds, winds, and vocoder, cued by the inspiration of black music's illustrious cultural past, try to carve out a creative place for its future. The album is a seamless, deeply focused meld of jazz, hip-hop, adult contemporary R&B, neo-soul, even rock, with an expansive use of rhythmic and melodic invention; all of it surrounded by spacious, natural-sounding production that's smooth, never slick. The various elements yield the desired result: making the whole greater than its parts. 's introduces it with "Lift Off." takes the Cuban jazz classic "Afro Blue" and extends it using hip-hop rhythms and neo-soul groove wedded to her signature, jazz-tinged croon. 's airy flute and 's Rhodes and piano converge in the center; 's bass adds slip for the drum kit. 's gorgeous vocal on 's "Cherish the Day" finds the rhythm section bumping around the fringes and creating a new pocket, which she embraces while finding spaces inside the song that weren't there before. On "Always Shine," 's flow meets 's emotive modern soul. The band stretches conventional 4/4 time, and the piano and synth shapeshift through the melody, adding depth and musical drama. "Gonna Be Alright" is a re-imagining of 's "F.T.B." with new lyrics and a rousing, elegant vocal by . dreamily croons through "Move Love," as pushes the time accents to a near breaking point. "Ah Yeah," with and , is a sensual babymaker that expands the reach of contemporary jazz. The subtle yet fragmented breaks in "The Consequences of Jealousy," combined with 's right-handed, upper-register chord creations, give 's vocal room to step outside the frame to fully inhabit the brooding musical simmer as an improviser. On "Why Do We Try," 's ( ) breezy vocal is the bridge between 's counterpoint melodies (one on each hand, with plenty of block chord improvisation), and the organ-esque timbres, popping breakbeats, and rumbling bass harmonics. The title track, with (formerly ) commences with hip-hop in the tune's head; the rhythm section charges full press to meet his rapid-fire delivery, but offer gentler modal grooves on the margins without blunting the impact. uses his elastic phrasing to offer an iconic reading of 's "Letter to Hermione," as the band follows and builds upon his twists and turns. A drum machine and slurred speaking voice introduce 's modally strident reading of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to close. As sings through his vocoder, loops, blips, and sample fragments haunt the middle like ghosts. approaches the melody elliptically; but grounds the entire tune, even as the rhythm section and effects gather steam. Before long, everything converges to propel it into the stratosphere. creates an entirely new context for popular music in its near erasure of boundaries. It is the sound of the future -- even if no one knows it yet. ~ Thom Jurek