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

I really want to like this, but I can't stop laughing at the Yacht-Rock guitar solos.

nah, those are awesome

They are awesome, yes, but so absolutely inexplicable in the midst of all those "been around the world ay-yai-yai" orchestral stabs that they are also hilarious.

gonna pop in and see her at rough trade east tonight

'Night Light' is the killer here, sounds like it could have sat in the middle section of the last Beyonce album.

It sounded like Laura Brannigan to me. Not a complaint, BTW, it's just odd how sounds get recycled and reshaped. I'm just old enough to have heard those sounds move from cool to naff to cool again through varying cycles.

some good songs on this, but ultimately it sounds too much like adele/florence with vocals way too high in the mix.

"night light" was the tipping point for me, and i like beyoncé, it's the british 00s pop vibe of this that bothers me.

I often have a knee-jerk aversion to a lot of British pop/soul—there's something about the sterility of the production, the overloud-ness of the vocals and the general air of politeness that just totally puts me off—so I'm really relieved by how much I've liked everything I've heard from this album. Enjoying how tasteful and restrained most of it is (though the title track is maybe too cute by half).

No American release, though? I can't even find a stream of it anymore. Kinda odd that the American press is tripping over themselves to praise an album that most of its readers can't hear and might not be able to hear for some time.

it's on spotify

Not in American, sadly (or at least not on my account)

i've got it and i'm def in america! maybe look again?

oh, not anymore! weird. maybe they took it down?

try to listen to it thru this playlist? http://open.spotify.com/user/mordys/playlist/2WPKGFgC5xncEu6AfY5gTe

i threw it on there earlier today when it was available and i can still listen to it through there...

Hey, that works! Thanks man! Great playlist, too

"Taking in Water" and "Something Inside" are one hell of a closing punch.

yep

4/5 on resident advisor? makes me want to check it out! what's the best track?

the one in the title of this thread

for RA's purposes

Interview:

http://www.billboard.com/column/the-juice/jessie-ware-talks-breakthrough-devotion-1007883152.story#/column/the-juice/jessie-ware-talks-breakthrough-devotion-1007883152.story

Spent some time with this and it's not quite my thing—the quiet-stormy tracks are pure bliss, but the pop tracks ring empty to me. It's an impressive album, of course, and she obviously has remarkable control over her aesthetic, but I'm not finding a strong songwriting voice to carry me through the record. Is there one there, or am I missing the point? Are there any good reviews/interviews that explore her songwriting? That Billboard interview was more about process than content.

I wish this album hadn't come out right in the middle of two giant list-generating exercises with massive associated playlists because I would like to spend some more time with this album before I make a decision on it. But there is so much amazing music to listen to in the world right now!

This is probably one of those albums I'm going to come back to in a year, after all the hype has passed and be all "Damn, you know, this was a really good album."

bonus tracks are dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ1-EAZ2eYA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ltza7hYls

ooooooh, the Bobby Caldwell cover is excellent.

oh i was wondering where "strangest feeling" was!

Hmmm.

seems fair? many points already made here in fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDg4tcZpYS8

was just saying on the other thread about this kinda sound maybe already running its course

what other thread?

i like this album a lot. it's bigger splashier moments are sort of wearing thin tho. the overt classy pro soul stuff is not reading exactly as meant to me after a week or so. but the album tracks are getting better. "no to love", "swan song", "sweet talk".

i think at its best there is a grown-up playacting quality to it that is very endearing. i mean, "i'm taking water, my brother, remember" has a little bit of slam poet about it. 27 isn't that young tho...

no it's literally about her brother

really not feeling anything by alunageorge i've heard

I keep trying to get into this, and the first couple songs I hear are very slick and nice and sound good, and then it all just slides away from my ears and I can't listen to it any more. I cannot seem to get through the album in one go. I'm sorry.

I'm not sure we can forgive you.

I'll go boil my head.

no it's literally about her brother

― lex pretend, Monday, September 10, 2012 2:14 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh.

fuck the backlash this album is gorgeous and really affecting too. it's devastating and if it doesn't connect with you, fine, but oh man this is more than just inoffensive dinner music to me. ugh

i wish things skewed more towards the lighter, less bombastic side, like "110%" and the opening and closing track. also there's a few times where it'a bit too much for me... esp "WHO WOULD SAY NO TO LOVE???"

but i'm just nitpicking. this is a sure top 5 i think for me.

"No to Love" is one of the duff tracks yeah

I have to confess a growing unease with romantic/erotic vastation; last year it took a few weeks to love the Marsha Ambrosius, for example. But in Ware's case the cavernous sound is an ideal musical correlative.

"110%" is too cutesy and always throws off the vibe of the rest of the album when it comes on imo. "Running" and "Sweet Talk" are amazing tho.

"running" is the one that hits hardest for me

i like "110%" a lot but it's a bit toooo obvious what she's going for

still haven't warmed to "110%."

On the other hand the title track sounds effective.

the run from sweet talk through to the end is just sublime

^^^ EXACTLY RIGHT!

i've also been grappling w/ the fact that they released all the best songs before the album dropped

that's not all that out of the ordinary surely? esp for pop albums?

'Night Light' is better than most of the pre-release songs.

yeah that's one of the best and wasn't leaked

with the 2 bonus tracks, i have a ratio of 9 great songs out of 13.

I didn't know of her before the album dropped. Besides being sucked in with "Sweet Talk" and immediately downloading the rest, I hadn't heard anything.