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

!!!!!!!!

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.

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

― snrub goin up on a tuesday (J0rdan S.)

Taking in Water is my favourite song of hers. Night Light isn't that far behind.

I'm enjoying the new album but it's really hard to see the standouts yet. Apart from Say You Love Me there isn't anything I dislike but everything else is fairy equal.

The reaction on here seems to be quite similar to the second Katy B album. Already wondering how well both of them will do on the end of year poll.

Can't get over "Champagne Kisses". Amazing.

Broadly agree with J0rdan but even the weaker tracks are growing on me fast. Not the drop-off from Devotion that I initially thought it was.

Agree with Kitchen Person that the reception is v similar to Little Red, right down to ppl praising the bonus tracks

I'm actually finding that "Say You Love Me" is much better in context.

"Desire" is kind of a waste of space, but I guess you need to take a breath after "Champagne Kisses" which has almost made me cry on multiple occasions

How I would love to hear an album of Robin Hannibal produced material.

This isn't as big a dip in quality as this thread would suggest. But the arrangements are too fussy and don't frame Ware's voice in a way to compliment her restraint like they did on Devotion. I think the album titles are telling - Devotion suggests steadiness and constance, while Tough Love is dramatic and points away from any sense of delicacy. I'm not against her making pop moves or trying something different but this reminds me of the Katy B album in that the way she's chosen to embrace crossover appeal does nothing to showcase her unique identity as an artist. This is still fairly good with some standout tracks but it's not essential and special like Devotion was.

The Miguel collab was a smart choice but I don't know why there's so little Dave Okumu involvement when he produced almost all of Devotion. It feels like as soon as there's a chance for a big pop breakthrough the regular producer gets sidelined.

oh man "midnight caller" is incredible, a real "if only the album had gone this way" moment

like, we've known she's wanted to be annie lennox for a while, but lennox in her eurythmics days is such a better look than latter-day AOR lennox

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

― snrub goin up on a tuesday (J0rdan S.), Monday, October 13, 2014 12:17 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

j0rdan considering these songs throwaway p much entirely explains why he thinks this album is comparable to devotion

it's not necessarily that the songs on tough love are bad so much as it's a less satisfying album, much less than the sum of its parts and lacking the stylistic peaks of devotion (and i find "say you love me" and "pieces" much more jarring in context, the former is just unlistenable to me).

fwiw i agree "tough love", "champagne kisses" and "kind of..." are all peak ware. and "midnight caller"! and, indeed, "12"