I won't lie, I didn't know anything about Jessie Ware other than hearing few short clips here and there that intrigued me enough to listen but not enough to seek more. Silly me, because Jessie Ware's debut Devotion is a gorgeous collection of songs echoing with haunting 80s inspired synths and brimming with vocal prowess. In short, it's bloody amazing.
From the opener/title track, with its cute twinkles and thumping XX beat, Jessie's hypnotising voice demonstrates its power to harness attention. More loveliness comes from 'Wildest Moments' and new single 'Night Lights', which showcases a remarkable soulful voice that can only be destined for great things. The latter track is, in one word, breathtaking.
Devotion is an album so affecting that it's impossible not to adore its smooth production, endless hooks and stunning lyricism. 'Taking In Water' is a track bursting with emotion, so much so it moved me (not to tears - nothing does that).
Not only affective, the album is perfectly paced. No track is so different from the others that it overshadows, in fact the album is totally self complimenting. The tempo shifts ever so slightly from slow to slow-mid to mid, never cranking up to a level that disrupts the journey. 'Sweet Talk', '110%' and 'No To Love' are the most uptempo tracks here, all so ridiculously infectious there's got to be something illegal going on.
Devotion is the most accomplished debut I've heard this year. It gets right what so many get wrong, it never tries to outdo itself. Every track flows into the next effortlessly, never setting itself up to be better than its predecessor. When the album reaches its inevitable close, you'll be hitting the rewind button to ride it one more time.
5/5
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