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Elixer Bria Valente album
NPG Records
albumThe more you listen, the more you get it.
Bria Valente (real name Brenda Fuentes), fellow Minnesotan, had known Prince since the early 1990s when introduced to him by Morris Hayes while on a visit to Paisley Park Studios when she was aged 17.
Valente was a model and dancer for Usher and came to Paisley Park to put backing vocals on How Do I Say for his 2001 album 8701. After another chance meeting with Prince in 2006 he invited her to put backing vocals to The Song Of The Heart, and then in 2007 sang also on Mr. Goodnight released on his thirty-second studio album Planet Earth. Valente and Prince started dating shortly after his divorce from Manulela Testolini that year and it was then he produced an album for her, entitled Elixer (which intentionally misspells ‘elixir’), on which Valente sings lead vocals.
Prince had spent much of 2006 working with and promoting Támar Davis as his protege and had likewise produced a collaboration, titled Milk & Honey, intended for release that year. On Elixer Prince co-wrote every song with Valente, excepting Kept Woman which Prince originally wrote for Támar but after they parted company her lead vocals were overdubbed by Valente and transferred to Elixer.
Elixer was released through NPG Records on 29 March 2009 as part a triple CD set packaging two solo Prince albums LotusFlow3r and MPLSound. The physical release of the LotusFlow3r set was retailed exclusively through US store chain Target. Despite its limited circulation the physical package peaked at number 2 on Billboard’s album chart. The trio of albums were additionally available as MP3 digital downloads from Prince’s official website lotusflow3r.com on 24 March, where they remained for exactly one year.
Prince and Valente were notably pictured together during the peak of their relationship, sat court side at the LA Lakers v Boston Celtics game on Christmas Day 2008 and at Paris Fashion Week 2010. Their relationship lasted approximately two years.
Performers
- Lead vocals
- Bria Valente
- All instr. / Vox
- Prince
- Bass Guitar
- Joshua Dunham All This Love, Something U Already Know and Kept Woman
- Drums
- Cora Coleman-Dunham All This Love, Something U Already Know and Kept Woman
Data
- Producers
- Prince and Bria Valente
- Label
- NPG Records
- Distribution
- NPG Records
- Released
- 17 years ago on 24 March 2009
- Running Time
- 44:45
- US Chart Peak
- 2 (part of a 3-disc set with LotusFlow3r and MPLSound)
- US R&B Peak
- 1 (part of a 3-disc set with LotusFlow3r and MPLSound)
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
- Here Eye Come (4:28)
- All This Love (4:39)
- Home (4:26)
- Something U Already Know (5:44)
- Everytime (3:50)
- 2Nite (5:02)
- Another Boy (3:56)
- Kept Woman (4:15)
- Immersion [feat. Prince] (4:02)
- Elixer [duet with Prince] (4:00)
Released as a single
Singles from Elixer
Another Boy
NPG Records
- Released
- 30 September 2008
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Format
-
- Another Boy (3:41)
2Nite
Purple Music
- Released
- 23 February 2012
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Formats
-
- 2Nite [Jamie Lewis Deep Session Mix] (7:32)
- 2Nite [David Alexander Club Remix] (6:56)
- 2Nite [Jamie Lewis Radio Mix] (3:36)
- 2Nite [David Alexander Radio Mix] (5:28)
- 2Nite [Jamie Lewis Deep Session Instrumental] (7:29)
Elixer album review
Elixer received an unfair reception from fans and to this day that remains unclear whether this was aimed at her rather than the work itself. Negative reviews it can be recalled were likewise levied at Mayte in 1996, as your reviewer witnessed fans’ faces drop as If Eye Love U 2 Nite was played over the PA ahead of the concerts on the Ultimate Live Experience Tour, which would have been justified had that album not been as great as it was. We find ourselves in the same position with Elixer, and I’ll not earn any favours for committing this to writing but I REALLY do like Elixer. The vocals are smooth and on point and the music (well that’s Prince playing after all) is flawless. Take for example Something U Already Know, with that lovely night-time feel and gentle lounge act, Supremes, feel. Bria’s club banging 2Nite is the obvious choice, but it’s Home and Something U Already Know that share the top track award from me. The lead single is Another Boy, a dreamy lullaby of song that rises and soars.
The production is as solid as you would expect from Paisley Park in Prince’s hands. The production quality is tight and underlined with Kept Woman. Prince appears on Immersion and the silky title track, but Bria holds her own admirably. So while the haters will hate, it is our loss that we didn’t hear more from her.
Elixer is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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