Tank has finally named the album behind his single Control. Experience arrives on Sept. 25, runs to 16 tracks, and is his 11th solo studio record. To announce it he released two more songs from it, Highlight and How I Need You.
The two pull in opposite directions on purpose. Highlight is a dancefloor track with house and EDM elements worked into it. How I Need You goes the other way entirely, into gospel and inspirational territory, and brings Kirk Franklin, Zacardi Cortez and Eric Dawkins along for it, which is a return to the music Tank started in.
Both join Yes and Control, which were released earlier. Control was the record that got the album this far: a single That Grape Juice described as Janet Jackson-inspired and credited with a Billboard milestone for the veteran singer earlier this year.
The bigger context is that this album was not supposed to exist. Experience follows 2022's R&B Money, which Tank billed as his retirement album at the time of its release. Announcing a 16-track follow-up four years later is a fairly complete reversal of that.
His health was part of the original decision, and the return has been gradual rather than sudden, built on singles rather than a single announcement. A five-time Grammy nominee taking another run at a full-length is a different proposition from a comeback tour.
Sixteen tracks that swing from house to gospel is a wide brief for one rnb-soul record, and how well it holds together is the open question when Experience lands. The gospel turn is not unusual on its own, after Fivio Foreign went the same way on a recent song, and the album joins a busy late September on the release calendar.
The facts
- Tank's album Experience is due Sept. 25 and runs to 16 tracks.
- It is his 11th solo studio album and follows 2022's R&B Money.
- He billed R&B Money as a retirement album when it was released.
- New songs Highlight and How I Need You join earlier tracks Yes and Control.
- How I Need You features Kirk Franklin, Zacardi Cortez and Eric Dawkins.
- Tank is a five-time Grammy nominee.
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