Jessie Ware - 110% (and everything else she's done)

was this posted - http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/jessie-ware-and-miguel-sound-wonderful-together.html

biggest change on this album imo is the sense of restraint - no full-blooded booming passion à la "wildest moments" or "running", except on the couple of tracks where she goes for the aor disney ballad market. it's a more low-key album which isn't always a bad thing but cumulatively it feels rather...penned in

I just watched her iTunes Festival show and yeah, "Champagne Kisses" is phenomenal, can't wait to hear the studio version

A little disappointed by the other song she co-wrote with Miguel though, "You & I (Forever)" is kind of….uhhh…..

this is grammy material. i predict a solid 8/10 from the pitchfork boys

'nother new one https://soundcloud.com/jessieware/jessie-ware-pieces

Is she just going to release the entire thing track by track

or rather... in pieces

until she gets 110 percent of it out

album is out there

!!!!!!!!

biggest change on this album imo is the sense of restraint

this seems like a weird thing to say since i found her first album pretty but almost objectionably restrained

i predict a backlash considering the album definitely indulges in jessie's clear love for MOR but idgaf tbh. was bopping to "Cruel" on my commute this morning.

am, is "restrained" pejorative? The first album was influenced by a kind of female R&B -- English-inflected to be sure -- that you may or may not embrace.

clear love for MOR

yow yeah

i don't like "cruel" at all but i'm basically down with the rest of this

"champagne kisses" is fucking unbelievable

i'm definitely feeling this in a smoke weed listening to sade way

i was feeling oddly defensive about it last night i guess but after a few listens i think this is both kind of slight and kind of a mess

there are def some odd choices individually and just generally speaking the direction of the album is questionable as has been debated ad nauseam in this thread

there's still some really exceptional moments on this album, esp vocally -- the vocal arrangements of "keep on lying" are great, even the climax of "want your feeling" really opened up for me. obv "champagne kisses" is beyond reproach, and her vocal performance on "say you love me" really makes that song imo (esp second verse).

i'm not really messing with "pieces" (too loud) and "you & i" has a weirdly wack chorus for verses that sound great imo. "cruel" is *okay* but the strings are a bit much, it feels super '70s and kind of out of step w/ the rest of the album.

i'm more or less on board though, she really does "suspended in air" well as an aesthetic.

not as instantly gripping as Devotion but i have a feeling it will grow on people. "say you love me" is the best love song released this year, byyyyyyy far. "pieces" and "champagne kisses" and "want your feeling" also own.

her vocal performance on "say you love me" really makes that song imo (esp second verse).

i was thinking this last night!

I would not mind an album's worth of "Taking in Water"

i was too harsh on "want your feeling" upthread. the drums are still kinda calcified sounding but dev hynes' limitations sometimes allow for uncanny spaces in the music, i.e. "lights still shining in the room / you left me in / ___________"

like all the longing she's describing is entirely contained in that moment where she stops singing and the bass and drums weave into each other

"Keep On Lying" reminds me of "Valentine".

am, is "restrained" pejorative? The first album was influenced by a kind of female R&B -- English-inflected to be sure -- that you may or may not embrace.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, October 9, 2014 9:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, it's not pejorative. i just think that the first album was notable for its musical restraint, so it's odd that someone would criticize the new one for being restrained.

FWIW i love sade, aalyiah, etc.

the problem i had w/ the first jessie ware LP is just that the songs weren't always up to the arrangements and vocal approach. if you're going for an extremely restrained style it's best to have songs that are a bit more structurally engaging. i mean, there are /some/ great songs on there but at times it seemed like a "less is less" effect.

"You and I (Forever)" is my favorite so far, particularly that seal call motif.

key difference here seems to be between "restrained" and "boring"

there are decent moments on this obv but it's really telling what a relief "champagne kisses" when something THAT great finally emerges, and playing it b2b with devotion makes it sound a bit unfortunate

Devotion is fairly restrained but it also has Wildest Moments and Night Light, moments where she breaks out of her usual hushed voice, so you get peaks in there. I wish she'd move into that register more often tbh, it's a good look for her.

I suspect I'm only going to like Ware when the production is jagged-lush ("Cruel"), jagged-spare ("Champagne Kisses," "Keep on Lying"), and the ones that split the difference. As much as I love her voice it's the kind of Good Voice that will tempt her into Annie Lennox-style moves towards respectability ("Say You Love Me").

man it's such a shame about "cruel", the "strings" on that track really ruin it. it's a good song and the beat is this dope like junior boys kinda thing but those string sounds just smother everything. i'd love to hear the super minimal version of that track i bet it would be dope.

A demo of a track she recorded with Robin Hannibal of Quadron: https://soundcloud.com/jessieware/12demo

HOW DID THIS NOT MAKE IT ONTO THE ALBUM

also the deluxe tracks are generally better than half of the record

The only bonus track I like is "Midnight Caller".

"kind of... sometimes... maybe" is ridic good

production is so good

i don't really fuck w/ any of the bonus tracks ... there's a good song hiding somewhere in "all on you" but i think it really needed to be streamlined

actually wait "the way we are" is dope

All of the bonus tracks save "Midnight Caller" feel like producer tracks feat. Jessie like those SBTRKT tracks with her on them. The producers' aesthetics overpower Jessie's in a way none of the proper album tracks do. Also, they just feel kinda insignificant and hook-less. I dunno.

yeah she's kinda fighting the beat on "the way we are" but it reminds me of the-dream so i'm down

i don't like "midnight caller" at all, sounds super cheesy to me in a way she's usually able to avoid

I like how lyrically straightforward it is.

Overall it's a step down from Devotion -- she hints at Annie Lennoxisms -- but her producers help.

Diva is a fine model. The other albums aren't.

The new album is a grower, like Devotion.

The first album had a couple of nullities but no rank offenses like the Sam Smith confection.

this is how i break it down to an extent

songs as good as anything she's ever done

champagne kisses
kind of sometimes maybe
tough love

very good songs that stand up w/ any album track on devotion

sweetest song
want your feeling
keep on lying
desire

songs i'm not really fucking with

you & i
cruel
pieces

crossover single that is totally out of place with her entire discography but is actually an anthem

say you love me

so i'm really really fucking with a solid 3/4 of the album, and it's not like i outright dislike the three i'm not really feeling. they're listenable tracks, they just needed some editing in various places.

i sort of cooled on devotion over time & i wouldn't say this is better but i'll go to the mat for it. i've been playing it all weekend.

stuff like "night light" & "swan song" & "taking in water" off devotion are as throwaway to me as the so-so stuff on this album

man "Taking in Water" and "Night Light" are, with "Running" and "Wildest Moments," my killer moments. "Taking Water" reeeeaallly kills me.

I didn't fuck w/ "You & I" at first but it's really been growing on me the last few listens. Don't get the distaste for "Cruel" that I've been seeing a few places.