Cynthia Erivo mines the depths of her soul for ‘I Forgive You,’ her ‘honest, human’ album

By JOHN CARUCCI and MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — It began as it always should, with her voice.

The second solo album from Cynthia Erivo, fresh off a herculean press run with the success of the first “Wicked” film, was always meant to be “vocal-focused,” she told The Associated Press recently. It may be the understatement of a lifetime: to know her is to know her instrument — that range, the notes few else can hit but many attempt.

And Erivo’s new soulful album, the evocatively titled “I Forgive You,” hits the mark.

In the studio, that meant using her vocals “as the pads, as the stacking,” like an artist might with a guitar or piano. “The meat of each of the pieces that you listen to is the voice,” she says, “So that you can hear the lyrics, you can hear the song,