We've been looking for new Jill Scott music ever since the album cycle for The Light of the Sun ended. So much so that we called out Jilly from Philly in our list of artists who needed to just go ahead and drop that album. Well, Jill must've heard our call (see what we did there?) because she's just blessed us with new music.
After announcing the single by using its cover as her first post on Instagram, Jill turned to the photo-sharing app to reveal a link to buy her new song "You Don't Know." The single is a throwback to soul sounds of the '60s and '70s, with Jill getting her bluesy soul singer on as she laments the pain of love. A simple piano and guitar arrangement is matched with a horn section ripped from the soul classics, channeling some of the best hits by Otis Redding, Al Green and Aretha Franklin back in their heydays. And with each verse, Jill punctuates her pain with the refrain, "If you don't know what I'm talkin' about / Then you don't know nothin' about love."
In the song's accompanying Nzingha Stewart-directed video, Jill plays up the song's blues feel. Filmed as if it's capturing a recording session, it's dimly lit and focuses solely on Jill and the band (which includes Aaron Camper, Adam Blackstone and her good friend Questlove on drums). Ms. Scott looks every bit the blues singer as she performs, her outfit and makeup on point and her hair just slightly disheveled, as if she came in from a long night just to lay down this track while she displays all of the song's pain and emotion on her face.
There's still no word on when we can expect Jill's new project to see the light of day or what the project will be called. But if it sounds as good as "You Don't Know" (and according to a recent post on Jill's Twitter account, it sure looks that way), then we are in for something good and soulful. You can check out the song and video here and get your own copy on iTunes now.
