Parts of Speech

Dessa’s mastery of literary form and hip-hop flow is in full evidence on Parts of Speech, the Minneapolis-based rapper’s third solo album. Those who've followed her work as a member of the Doomtree collective have come to expect both poetic finesse and street smarts from this protean word-slinger. Parts of Speech doesn’t disappoint, giving greater emphasis to Dessa’s caressing singing style and feel for provocative beats. Freely transgressing music-genre boundaries, she fills “Call Off Your Ghost” with wounded anger, radiates battle-scarred strength in “Skeleton Key,” and unleashes a deadly verbal barrage on “Fighting Fish.” Softer, more melancholy numbers like “Annabelle” and “Sound the Bells” are every bit as riveting as the more aggressive tracks. “Beekeeper” (a reworking of a tune on 2011’s Castor, the Twin) captures her at her most delicately lyrical; “Warsaw” reveals her as a full-blown diva radiating dance floor heat. Moving beyond her own material, she turns Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down” into a quietly devastating revelation.