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

pro tip: this song is amazing

http://soundcloud.com/jessieware/jessie-ware-110-1

it could totally be on 'velvet rope' right??

i'm really in love with this thing

I prefer "Running," which will probably be in my top ten. My favorite guitar solo in many months too.

but, yeah, she's worth watching. She reminds me of Shara Nelson.

There's also this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ltza7hYls

Looking forward to the album

I love the video for 110% almost as much as the song. I can't figure out what the muffled sample in the background is saying, "carving my initials on your forehead" I think?

fucking love this song. definitely deserves a thread

original 'running' felt to me way too encumbered with reference and borrowed vibes, but tbf i did come to that conclusion when i was still getting to know her (which i guess i still am). alf have you heard the disclosure remix?

'110', it wasnt really until i heard it on the radio before i realised how much it goes, it's p catchy. not sure if it's gonna be a keeper but certainly one of those brief flings you kinda fall for a bit

Love this song

yeah I've played this song 20 times since I first heard it, I love it

i've been meaning to listen to this and "running" for MONTHS and didn't get round to them because i didn't think i'd have to make an effort. here we are now though, i like them all, on one listen "running" is better and neither are as good as "strangest feeling" but who knows how they'll shake out

"running" is totally and amazingly soft rock

just checked out Strangest Feeling, must have missed it last time around, amazing too. Think she's shaping up to be my 2012 pick of the girls looking at her trajectory.

i think i might start a thread for delilah at some point, her album is really surprisingly good

"running" is totally and amazingly soft rock

― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Friday, 8 June 2012 12:06 (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

so so so tryhard sade tho

just look at the single cover even

"maybe felt a little too record industry to capture the true desired lisa stansfield realness" is what i said about my first impressions of ware generally on the bobby caldwell thread

listening to the three singles together is weird, they're all good songs but they all feel like really overly deliberate attempts to capture a certain aesthetic - sade x soft rock for "running", delilahesque trip-hop revivalism x burial 3am night bus moods for "strangest feeling", airy summery "my boo" breezy realness for "110%"

i think i perhaps like "strangest feeling" best b/c being overly conscious and deliberate suits that gothy aesthetic well

http://i.imgur.com/D0TuS.jpg

1. Devotion
2. Wildest Moments
3. Running
4. Still Love Me
5. No To Love
6. Night Light
7. Swan Song
8. Sweet Talk
9. 110%
10. Taking In Water
11. Something Inside

i wonder if i'm the only person on earth who feels sorry for jamie woon

haha the first thing i thought of when i heard "110%" was "aw, poor jamie woon"

jamie woon's album did decently, didn't it? and now he's just between albums.

capture the true desired lisa stansfield realness

i don't care man i'll take the imitation

sade is the real oak real and stansfield is the real plastic real tho, there's levels mayne

i guess what i'm saying is i am enjoying the video

yeah i dont actually know how woon's sold on the low but i dont feel his album was ever really in the air once it dropped, even in the liminal circles we're talking about. just seemed to drop and disappear

anyway i wouldnt care to speculate on what he deserved but it was definitely more than what he got. i felt like he made brave-ish decisions on that album he didnt have to if he was just playing to the gallery and it's a shame they werent acknowledged at very least

ok maybe brave is too strong but whatever, he stuck to his guns somewhat and i respect that

Produced by Julio Bashmore if you were wondering. It's blowing up, just an hour ago I heard it on a radio station in Mexico City and was wondering what ILM thought about it.

For all the reference points being thrown around here, and I know Jessie Ware's coming from a completely different place, but you could put 110% on the Grimes album and no one would notice. Its level of base competency is higher and it's a good song but I'm not sure the production does it many favours. I listened to Running straight afterwards and liked that one more.

Bit disappointed that so many of these jobbing post-dubstep vocalists seem to be defaulting to a very similar soft-rock middle ground, and yeah while it might be a brave decision up against whatever the FACT-reading bores are clamouring for, you need serious songwriting ability to pull of that aesthetic well and I dunno if any of these guys do.

Does Roses Gabor have a post-guest-vocalist career yet? That might be promising.

"running" is as good as "110%"... this might be my most anticipated album of the year atm

assuming d'angelo isn't putting an album out

Running > 110% for me, but just barely.

I hadn't been slotting Woon into this space in my brain, but now that it's been mentioned it totally makes sense.

No clue what he sold, but that album was mad underrated even on ILM, given the love for 'Night Air'. There were a LARGE number of jams there.

I love the video for 110% almost as much as the song. I can't figure out what the muffled sample in the background is saying, "carving my initials on your forehead" I think?

― boxedjoy, Friday, June 8, 2012 5:57 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You heard it right - it's a sample from Big Pun's Dream Shatterer, I think.

hmmm, not so sure about this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=FnOBjARwNi0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOBjARwNi0

baby in our wildest moomins

i like this a lot

http://vimeo.com/38905074

hadnt seen it before but this song off the alb is the real deal

"wildest moments" is amazing

fully in love with all the singles now. i think "running" might have shaken out as my favourite so far

think i might be talking to her next week

i'm really taken with how - similar to wynter gordon's newest stuff - ware's vocal strategy is a perfect midpoint between r&b and female singer-songwriter

hmm...I heard "Stimela" and wasn't impressed.

Holy fuck her album is going to be amazing. "Sweet Talk," the latest track to be released, is ANOTHER great track. When the guitars drop in at 2:30... one of the best musical moments of the year. Man this girl's on a roll.

Can we change this thread to "general jessie ware thread" btw i think it's about time

As requested, kinda.

that works. thanks ned!

+1 for Running. Shades of Sade, tasteful trip-hop, etc.

Still I actually liked tasteful trip-hop. Makes me want to go listen to a Moloko record.

That was a good interview BTW, Lex. I wouldn't mind seeing dance music in the UK go classy again like back in the 2-step heyday.

I wouldn't mind seeing dance music in the UK go classy again like back in the 2-step heyday.

I'm not sure this sentence makes sense really? Unless by "2-step" you basically mean MJ Cole and Wookie?

Yeah, and some Dem 2 tracks and Tuff Jam.

And Craig David.

"Wildest Dreams" has insinuated itself into my life so shrewdly.

"Wildest Moments" of course

I love all the singles so far, and I'm hardly into vocal pop, so she must be doing something right (or disastrously wrong).

110% is lovely!

reminds me of Mr Fingers oddly enough

is it in the charts?

the album is really great btw

the beats and production are great but for the most part you don't really think of it as a "uk dance" album - even bashmore's tracks, despite his distinct and characterful style, aren't recognisably him. it's more great production in the fleetwood mac sense, except from the obvious perspective of someone who grew up on ukg and hip-hop coming through in the rhythms and occasional sample. she's great at BIG CHORUSES. she's kinda annie lennoxy in a good way.

I like that description.

It makes me anticipate that this is to UK beats as Bedtime Stories largely is to US beats...? Is that off base?

maybe if i think about it that might make sense but the key difference is that bedtime stories was a very intimate and obviously carnal album, whereas devotion is all sweeping grandeur and emotions writ large and jessie being imperious, and in fact my only (not v meaningful) quibble is that she can't really do lustful very well (like, "running" is superb and all but when i listened to the lyrics i couldn't help but feel it needed a touch more of that about it)

oh i'm relistening now, i forgot how much "sweet talk" reminds me of dâm-funk

ha that's interesting

i'm on my toes waiting for this to leak.

i think my favourite non-single is "night light"

or maybe "taking in water"

of all available stocks and shares on the market 'run to love' sounding v much like loose ends or whatever (plus the bobby caldwell cover i guess) had me most down for a kinda uk boogie britsoul update thing

60% less enthused by other framings

I heard "Wildest Moments" last month when it made the blog rounds, but I'm just now catching up with all the rest. I'm not completely off base by hearing a little Sade in some of this, am I?

ctrl+f tells me no.

wildest moomins is probably her least sade number however just in case you were feeling perceptive there

srsly why does she sing it like that

is it a reflex morrissey tribute thing like what tarrus riley also sometimes does

reminds me of Mr Fingers oddly enough

yeah everytime i hear that riff it reminds me of mr fingers.

rtc do you mean the slight over-emphasis in her singing? the way she sort of says "doncing" in 110 per cent annoys me a bit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/aug/16/jessie-ware-devotion-album-stream

"Sweet Talk" is good! Love the electric piano.

AOTY

ok this rap verse on "no to love" is pretty bad ugh the song is awesome otherwise

wow this is getting the sort of unanimous buzz on my twitter timeline usually reserved for albums I hate. FOR ONCE I DON'T FEEL LIKE A GRINCH.

(I also can't work out why) (it's very good, obv, but that's not usually the reason for these things)

whoa "night light" is pretty heavy

ha i kind of liked that rap btw

goole, this is just based one listen. he seemed to trip over his flow in spots, little awkward

listen #2 begins now

grrrr fuck this 12" extended dub mix of 'no to love' where is the proper song???

i repeat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqwEPbS71ME

grrrr fuck this 12" extended dub mix of 'no to love' where is the proper song???

― r|t|c, Thursday, August 16, 2012 11:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hmm? Are you saying they included the 12" extended dub mix on the actual album?

also yeah still don't like the rap verse

i was inferring that that's what it sounds like it is in comparison to the live renditions

rtc do you mean the slight over-emphasis in her singing? the way she sort of says "doncing" in 110 per cent annoys me a bit.

This is the usual hazard for posh stage school types trying their hardest not to sound American.

I like this album a lot more than I expected to after the mimsiness of 110%, although serious rolleyes at Tim Jonze's review in the Guardian being all "LOOK, not bland winebar toss, she likes dubstep and Julio Bashmore!" when the best moments are are where the, ahem "UK bass" influence gets out of the way and lets the song breathe a bit.

I've only just heard Finest Moments for the first time. Did they hammer this during victorious video montages during the Olympics because it feels like it's been consciously written for them.

jonze also uses Springsteen as a negative reference point for no discernible reason other than he just wanted to take a shot at Springsteen, bizarre

Whether Ware's early experience as a football reporter – even covering matches for the Jewish Chronicle – helped her hone a simple, direct style is impossible to say. What's undeniable, though, is the fact that Ware has the sweetest vocal style yet to emerge from anyone who previously attended the crucial Boreham Wood v Arsenal XI friendly.

He's trying really hard to be Alexis Petridis bless him.

Best New Music on PFM.

and yet i can't find a copy that isn't the stream yet. sigh

it's out there

but like, not for purchase?

i think it's officially released on the 20th

baby in our wildest moomins

― r|t|c, Monday, June 18, 2012 8:36 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol u fucker, ruined it

No it's out that way too, Alex. Holler at me.

no i meant. it's not available for purchase.

i was LOOKING for it on legal purchase type places and it's not out. but it's been reviewed. which confused me.

probably means it'll be out next week? The reviews are in advance of the album.

hm. yeah. p4k confused me b/c b/c normally p4k reviews come out when albums do and not with advanced lead times. no?

yeah i think p4k wanted to make sure it was ahead of others on this one

which is cynical maybe but still

i tracked it down tho

i really love the first & last tracks on this

Released on the 20th, apparently:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wwhf

wau @ the guitars in "Night Light." It's like an early eighties Stevie Nicks song.

i'm still trying to digest this. some of this (mostly the tracks already released) are like "greatest shit ever" territory... but some of the album tracks fare better than others. there's a weird loudness to some of them that kinda puts me off. all that said, still easily my #2 album of the year so far.

I don't like the title track as much as you -- it's all overtones.

what's your #1 J0rdan?

i think it's a good opener... "taking in water" is probably the one i fuck w/ the least, and "no to love" is a bit on the nose

xp frank ocean, pretty easily. new miguel & new xx albums are the only ones on the horizon that i can see unseating it

holy shit @ at the cello in "Something Inside."

dawn richard??

xp

dawn album is more in the 8-12 range for me probably

sometimes i really don't understand your taste

me either

dope song

in "Wildest Moments" does she sing "do wrongs no rights" or "two wrongs"?

The latter, I hope. It's what I've sung to myself for three weeks.

it's definitely the latter

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

i cry erytim
elusi0nx in reply to lizrocks123 (Show the comment) 1 month ago

cool venue

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.

Yeah Sweet Talk is great, it's got a bounce to it that's absent in most of the rest of the album.

Still Love Me is the real clunker here I think. That and No To Love coming one after another so early in the record really messes with the album's flow.

the album dramatically improved for me once i realised that those two were the ones to just skip

it took me ages to get round to hearing the singles so the timing, in that they were just clicking with me as i got to hear the full album, worked out perfectly

I like both those songs a lot, esp "No To Love"

"Night Light" hit me like a ton of bricks on the way home from work today. Arrangment, production, melody...shit is HEAVY DUTY.

feel like the singles are the stand outs and there's lot of filler on here. Still relatively enjoyable though. Amazing voice

i find the diversity of opinion re: the quality of the singles compared to the rest of the tracks interesting

five of 11 tracks have been singles now, right? six if you include "strangest feeling".

All these so-called post-dubsteppers, RnB-deconstructivists, indie-beatmakers etc., it's all really some form of (neo)trip-hop, don't you think? Or is that reductionist? It's not meant as an insult.. I like many of these artists, Jessie Ware among them.

To my ears Ware hovers outside trip-hop, closer to Blue Lines-era Massive Attack

I've always considered Blue Lines trip-hop (because of after the fact-categorization, probably, I was 7 in '91) so I guess we agree on Ware, then.

Something about the poses she strikes reminds me of Shara Nelson: mechanized soul with space for a billowy presence.

I really like the title track, can't get enough of it. Incidentally, some of the harmonic stuff and the arpeggio effects going on in it reminds me a lot of "Bloom" by Radiohead.

it's all totally trip-hop revival. it confused me the first time i saw someone use that as an insult.

If so, we're still at the early, warm, Wild Bunch bit of trip-hop, rather than the dead-eyed Sneaker Pimps 1998 zombie incarnation. The latter bit would be the insult.

i actually liked that sneaker pimps album at the time

Having lived with this album for a month or so now I'm pretty sure that most of its faults come from the presence of the dude from The Invisible. There's a sort of damp and dusty worthiness to some of the production.

Ooof, not very good on Later.

Love the album 111% though.

It's like an X-Factor cover, maybe she's just nervous though.

Later last night was the first time I'd heard her. I thought that song sounded a bit like Roxette.

she was better at Maida Vale -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/sessions/2012-10-18_jessieware

i listen to this album all the time. I wouldn't really think to slot it anywhere near Blue Lines, it seems much more straightforward R&B to me. but it's very good.

I'm in love with the Ewan Pearson remix of No to Love

http://soundcloud.com/jessieware/sets/no-to-love-remixes/

Brownstone cover (produced by Japanese teenagers - ?!), Kate Moross video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXJl5Gf05zg

I love both of these things

i didnt think i liked the todd mix but it's v beautiful once it gets going

almost tempted to do a ware remixes poll but meh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkF7PZhVlNw

<3 this one

"Taking In Water" has become my jam .

it's my favorite from the album

well other than maybe "sweet talk"

or "110%"

as great as this album is, (still top 5 of the year for me) the remixes that have emerged for songs from it have been fucking great. the joe goddard "night light" remix is RIDICULOUS

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

This "sweet talk" remix too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOQHC4Muxs

love that "Night Light" remix

Finally got around to hearing this after months of loving "Wildest Moments." Good album, though I find that with the exception of the song I already liked (which is terrific both melodically and lyrically), the songs tend to live or die depending on the strength of the drum programming, which is odd.

I've not really wanted to go back to this that much of late but I might have a go at making a remix comp this evening.

"Still Love Me" sounds too much like Annie Lennox for me

the joe goddard remix of "night light" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There's been some very smart remix commissioning by Jessie Ware's people, in contrast to Lana Del Rey's label, which seems to have commissioned so many that even the good ones (eg Lindstrom, Photek, AlunaGeorge) have got lost in the pile.

That makes sense though, Jessie Ware is embedded in a scene and building a profile in the dance world as well as the pop world, in a way that Lana Del Rey isn't.

Oh sure, it definitely makes sense, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the LDR remixes. You can't even buy most of them - they're just floating about.

Haha I thought that "just floating about" was the default state for pop/indie remixes. The idea that anyone might actually pay money for most of them never really occurred to me.

I like paying when I can (eg Ewan Pearson's Ware remix) because it helps the remixer get more work. But I'm old and like paying for music so there's that.

Aeroplane told me that major labels deliberately overcommission remixes on spec, knowing that the ones they turn down and refuse to pay for will end up online anyway via the remixer and get them free publicity and kudos. That's what happened with their MGMT remix. It's a lousy trick, although we benefit either way.

It's more that I thought most of them were either unofficial or sat on by the label in the first place, a lot of them just seem to exist in Hype Machine land independent of any commercial imperatives at all bar getting a bit of attention for the producers.

(xpost - or that I suppose)

I mean I doubt anyone's profile suffered as a result of doing a 'Video Games' remix last year.

The nebulous idea of "profile" is fine when you're starting out but when you're established it's nice to get some £££ if you're doing work for a major label. If it's unofficial obviously that's different.

"video games" "vip mix"

About 452,000 results (0.35 seconds)

though er, most of those results aren't actually that - n/m

'110%' is now ‘If You’re Never Gonna Move’

I guess I'm the only one that thinks "Still Love Me" is the standout here? Also yeah this was on Spotify 2 wks ago and now it is totally gone!!

I think they took it off US Spotify only?

"Night Light" is the album's clear winner, imo.

"Taking in Water," hoss.

when she suddenly wails I'M TAKING WATER MY BROTHER I'm destroyed

This is like Born This Way, where everyone agrees to like the album and everyone's favorite track is different.

Apparently "'Taking Water' is about my little brother." And I'd already constructed a fiction in which the singer falls in love with a gay man.

Strangest Feeling and Devotion are my favorites.

This shit really needs to come out in the US. Listening to clips on YouTube is all I can do since Spotify yanked it.

She's touring now! Should I go see her in a few weeks for $15?

$15, worth it. From the live YouTube clips, seems like she has a similar "wow, that voice is real" power as the studio sound. (Not having seen her. That was my reaction to seeing Sade years ago.)

Don't know about regular concerts, but I saw her at a summer festival and it was great. She was surprised by enthusiastic audience (this was before album release) and seemed even a bit intimidated, but handled everything like a total pro. Great voice indeed, beats sounded really well, and she seemed super nice too.

this is nice

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

Imma go ahead and see her Friday night in a 600-person venue for $15. I'm p stoked.

this sounds kind of reactionary but i feel like this album could use more traditional song structures and melodic variation. sometimes it feels like the melodies kind of dead-end in the middle of the song and it's diminishing returns after that point. i love a good disco vamp as much as anyone but the programming/arrangements seldom develope in a way that keeps me as engrossed as i feel i should be. and yet there's a lot of brilliance on this record and i find myself returning to it.

she's playing chicago this weekend: http://www.songkick.com/concerts/14452954-on-an-on-at-tomorrow-never-knows-lincoln-hall

who are those other folks?

She does not have Canada stops on this tour apparently? Or ever? Sigh.

Speaking of, Canadian girl she's touring with, Rochelle Jordan, is super talented.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PmtYq_nrnc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO_oSH1qnHo

she's touring with Rochelle Jordan?!?!

ugh. WHY ARE THEY NOT COMING TO CANADA

i can't make it down to see this, oh well.

"Still Love Me" sounds too much like Annie Lennox for me

― curmudgeon, Thursday, November 22, 2012 4:34 PM (2 months ago)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/arts/music/jessie-ware-and-her-new-ep-if-youre-never-gonna-move.html

"I’ve been deeply influenced by lots of American soul and R&B, but also these really strong British musicians like Annie Lennox and Sade. I need to remember I’m not from L.A. or New York, so there’s only so far I can go with the American thing.

On your new EP, you cover Bobby Caldwell, the blue-eyed soul guy.

I’m a white Jewish girl — come on! Much as I’d love to be Aaliyah, I’m not."

'still love me' is great, poss my fave track on the album, love the way it gently tidally transforms from an ungainly clanking 80sness into something becoming ever more powerful even as it diffuses in slowmo. "if i make myself understood" by hypnosis

& if i may

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyPMNHyhkX0

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

you'll be my night
LIGHT

Months later "Still Love Me" is still my total fav track on the album; I'm v surprised she hasn't released it as a single.

Much as I’d love to be Aaliyah, I’m not."

― curmudgeon, Monday, January 28, 2013 1:33 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

aaliyah please
this is green envy

When I hear piano in the chorus of Night Light I'm always happily reminded of the floating plinkety plonkety piano sounds in this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeI9zNNP8bE

Katy B insists that Aaliyah isn't actually about Aaliyah - it's about someone at a club and she looked at her iTunes library for a name - but maybe one great thing about the record is that Jessie thinks it is.

can understand katy not wanting to put too deadeningly fine a point on it tbf

Yes, obviously the ambiguity's key but I found it interesting that the name, with all its associations, was an afterthought for her because it's the first thing that strikes the listener.

yeah idk it's just a little bit too "no my dog's name is aaliyah you see" to really hold water

who cares anyway we're the artists here not them

Well I don't think she was lying to me but I'm only throwing that out there as a bit of trivia rather than anything that should affect your (or my) reading of the song.

i've seen this woman perform twice in the past week, and i don't think there is a lovelier person alive on this planet

i could listen to her sing and make dorky jokes forever.

also "no to love" is my least favourite song on the album but live it really shines, she turns it into a funk guitar jam.

Good to hear, always thought "no to love" had very special potential but that it didn't take off the ground.

So good but more crucially SO PERSONABLE live! I've never seen a person more endearing.

seems to be a common experience. My friends who went to see her were totally in love

she is gonna play the berghain end of march, i think i'll be there!

I meant to post this v sentiment on thread; it's something I've told ppl a million times after seeing her show: she is so fucking magnetic/charismatic/humble/personable/adorable and such a treat to watch sing AND ALSO banter btwn songs!

Also the contrast between her singing and speaking voice is a joy to behold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS6kSagTixk&feature=player_embedded

!!!

I always felt there was a spark of something interesting in the Rhianna song, and this just ignites it and turns such a mediocre song into something close to Sade-esque perfection.

there is video of that ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e2rzp6#p015338v

She's talking on the radio right now. Would kick it with Jessie.

Haha now she's talking about Roy Keane bullying Gareth Southgate.

she does seem pretty great

i like the way her twitter picture is a really awful midframe gurn from bbc news

Not listening to it, but she's always been good when I've seen her interviewed in the past.

Would a Devotion vs On A Mission be fun or just a pointless waste of space?

maybe i should poll that question

"Imagine It Was Us"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w4v_RpIDBwM#!

this bangs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4v_RpIDBwM

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Damn right.

yesssss

bashmore did this huh. ratings

makes me so happy ^^

hyetal was involved as well apparently

daaaaaamn feeling this song so hard right now

of all available stocks and shares on the market 'run to love' sounding v much like loose ends or whatever (plus the bobby caldwell cover i guess) had me most down for a kinda uk boogie britsoul update thing

60% less enthused by other framings

― r|t|c, Friday, 10 August 2012 08:27 (7 months ago) Bookmark

^^^^

come 2 think of it this sound is actually kind of a vibes right now, albeit elsewhere more cartoonishly

skream mix of duke dumont/ame, krystal klear/jenna g

I am not against "White Noise" and "Aaliyah" as sonic templates for UK pop

it's... not quite like that. and templates are too linear besides

tbh i would hesitate to imply ware being germane to wider drifts at all as she is and has been very much a cupid shooting arrows of her own

beyond her there's thoughts to be had though sure

jessie ware + julio bashmore + hyetal = yessss

is another album already on the way then??

it's one of two bonus tracks for the US release of devotion

julio bashmore + hyetal = velour

oh!

i saw her yesterday in berlin in the astra club. the set was pretty short, just over one hour, she didn't give any encores. i quite liked the band, especially the guitar player played in a pretty sophiticated way. she was a little over the top though, i think i have never been to a concert where the main performer spoke so much. and it was mainly pretty trite stuff she said, like how much she liked berlin (about 10 times) or how much she liked her own songs. and that this concert will be on tv and that song is so new that she is hardly allowed to play it etc. overall i was slightly underwhelmed. she seemed a little too full herself. i aso had the impression that someone told her what to say to the audience via earplug but maybe i am wrong.

too full of herself

Everyone else seems to think she is super-charming onstage so either she was struggling with the language barrier or you're being a miserable churl.

she wasn't struggling as she spoke in perfect british english, so that leaves not many options...

her talk was annoying to the point of self-parody but maybe that is just that the way she is and the way people like her to be. who knows. i was one of the oldest in the audience, maybe it is a generation thing.

just the way she is

probably is a generation thing yeah

does being humourless protoplasmic slime from 4 billion years ago get you into gigs any cheaper btw

you tell us?

(mere banter)

about as bad you'd expect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bmaUt6Wh5k&

Coffeeeeeeeeeeeeeins
frieeeeeeendz
eeeeeeeeindz

for some reason just thru skimming i'd totally assumed '110%' was gonna be the asap remix one

urgh why would they do that to that

omg "imagine it was us"

omg why would they give us a taste of it MULTIPLE WEEKS before we get to even hear a proper version

omg after pressing play i actually somehow forgot i wasn't listening to the og "wildest moments" and when asap came in it was the worst.thing.ever

skream mix of duke dumont/ame,

ERM i am just catching up and ERM

WHEN DID SKREAM START DOING AMAZING SUN-KISSED DISCO LIKE THIS WITH DRUM FILLS LIKE THAT? has he been doing this for a while???

"I've come so far from where I was before, but then I've never really been in one place. House, techno, disco this is the music that I'm pushing and loving now. Things needed to evolve and I couldn't be happier."

saw which way the wind was blowing i guess. Remix is great

along similar lines

http://soundcloud.com/rudimentaluk/rudimental-hell-could-freeze-1

lex are you talking about skream's remix of "need u"?

Skream's been doing "special disco sets" for years, but in my experience they consist of some Arthur Russell to warm up then lots of obvious wedding-party tunes. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all, especially if the results are as good as his take on "Need U".

This Asap appearance seems to jarring and unwelcome, I can't understand why it happened. I love the idea of the chorus of "Wildest Moments" being the hook for a mopey hip-hop ballad in the vein of "I'll Be Missing You" but this is not it by any stretch.

Mixtape of garage/interview on the AV Club

Does anyone think she's gonna "make it big" in the US and if so with which track?

OMG her taste is so awesome.

does she secretly board here?

also, can't believe there still isn't a version of imagine it was us without POM POM POM SPECIAL DELIVERY splattered all over it

"Hold Your Head Up High (Julian's Bad Boy Mix)" is a booming tune, all time for me.

I wonder if she has the Dreem Teem In Session Vol. 2 mix, as several of her selections are on there.

oh my good god what is she trying to do me, i have a gf jess

JW: Exactly! Fuck no! My favorite is the one on Wikipedia called “quiet storm.” They call me “quiet storm,” like we’re fucking X-Men characters. It’s fucking wicked!

http://i.imgur.com/8GFp6dV.gif

also, can't believe there still isn't a version of imagine it was us without POM POM POM SPECIAL DELIVERY splattered all over it

― monotony, Thursday, April 4, 2013 3:43 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I KNOW RIGHT

god it's making me want to stab everything

ugh fuck the radio

there is now.

LINK

http://rnbxclusive.se/2013/04/jessie-ware-imagine-it-was-us-video/ ?

i got the video to play but now i can't :\\\\ i promise there was a video there before

i think this is maybe her best song

x-post: Working for now but it's been linked to Vevo and before it was that Chinese language (I think) version of youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u03f5Wnwff0

Yessss

oh, yes

perfect video as well

I love this song so hard.

it's perfect

yes

got a touch of róisín murphy about it

roisin brand

it destroyed live on saturday.

everything destroyed live on saturday tbh

live band is severely funky in the best way possible and the voice doesn't exhibit the restraint it does on record and she was utterly charming the entire time.

toronto adored her, more or less. did not anticipate a sold out show or the crowd singing all her backing vocals for her or...well, any of it.

Does anyone think she's gonna "make it big" in the US and if so with which track?

― Room 227 (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, April 3, 2013 8:03 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Over the weekend, my 65-year old dad (Brit but living in America for 30 years) asked me if I knew Jessie Ware, so she's making inroads here somehow--NPR maybe? He also asked me if I knew who Richard Thompson was, so he's not like the 65-year old equivalent of an ilxor or anything. "Wildest Moments" would have been my pick for "which track," since I noticed it in playing in two different (American) TV shows last fall, but now I'm not sure.

Her SF show (500 capacity) sold out in the first hour.

Her Philly show in Jan which was probably around 500-1000 didn't sell out at all, but someone at the show told me all the other dates on the tour did.

She really is so amazing live and so uniquely personable and chatty and fucking ENDEARING. Also OMG that voice.

yeah i saw her last night...she is hilarious, kept teasing the crowd for screaming all night. "you'll lose your voice if you scream all show! i know from experience, i can't sing along to chaka khan at the club anymore"

My physical copy of the CD retitles "110%" "If You're Never Gonna Move."

There was legal issues with the sample iirc

i found it weird that they had to change not only the sample, but the title as well. like, couldn't they have said that it is called "110%" for no particular reason? idk.

anyway "imagine it was us" is just amazing

man

http://www.thefader.com/2013/04/24/stream-jessie-ware-love-thy-will-be-done/

!!!!

jessie's demonstration of impeccable taste continues

can't tell if it was already mentioned in this thread but she covers "never knew love like this before" for the i give it a year (?) soundtrack and it's incredible http://open.spotify.com/track/4aOHup7wmxNKZxdTW8UE3u

i've never really liked that song and this feels a bit underpowered to me but i like that she did it. xpost

OMG. martika <33

I've loved this song since before I was born somehow, and could I love Jessie Ware any more right now? Hell no.

no "jessie's kitchen" no credibility

she could totally do "More Than You Know" too.

Yeah, all good with this.

The massive intro synth wash that sounds like from a demo made me swoon.

"Imagine It Was Us" is simply the fucking best

You could loop the last 8 measures alone for like 10 minutes before I'd start to get tired of it.

I'm thinking this is going to wind up being the best hook of 2013.

It is my single of the year so far. 100% unfuckwithable.

The simple little S.O.S. band style guitar lick at the end is so amazing, so audacious to include something that hooky and delicious and just drop it in

S.O.S. Band! Good catch.

I was the honorary DJ at a smallish party and when I played Imagine it was us some people were furious and mocked me, it followed Reach Out by George Duke and I was kinda short in options. I left the role and then they played Venetian Snares and it was a huge plane crash and I left.

wait why were they furious and mocking?

idg why anyone would disapprove of that song, ever

They said it was terrible. ;_;

She's touring again in Nov but do I want to pay $32 to see her again when I already saw her in January (for $15)? I mean I think the answer's yes, but...

maybe they'll have shirts this time; I could use a sick Jessie Ware shirt.

i don't know if this is wrong but it's
crept
into
my
mind

POM POM POM POM SPECIAL DELIVERY

I listened to that radio rip so much, now every time i hear the proper version i keep expecting that to still be there

yeah me too

https://soundcloud.com/juliobashmoremusic/peppermint

A+

Coincidentally, I listened to this album for the first time in months. It still kills.

yeah, I think I underrated it when it dropped tbh

I'm glad to hear Karen Young "Hot For You" replayed yet again. Still love this bootleg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNFzhWAL5r0

Why is she not like big superstar w tons of cred, idgi

she's touring the US at the moment. this one's new

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P63viLs2ErY

seeing her on monday, psyched

Devotion is still fire.

"Taking in Water" has turned into one of those songs I gotta skip because at the wrong moment it unnerves me.

seeing her on monday, psyched

You won't regret it; she's super-fun live.

Saw her last night for the second time this year. I don't think it will ever not be fucking awesome seeing her.

Though I mean a huge part of the appeal is a) seeing her in relatively intimate venues and b) how well she performs in said venues what with conversing w/ the audience and telling little stores and etc.

seeing her tuesday at my favorite venue in montreal, giddy with excitement

wheres that

Corona Theatre, but it isn't anymore, they sold its soul to Virgin/the capitalism devil.

Great show! Got a whole new song as the encore. Except Wildest Moments (perhaps), all the songs sounded even better live, at least to me.

In which TNC becomes a fan.

instagram reveals jessie ware has been in the studio w/ miguel.

hopefully it's a proper collaboration this time as opposed to her just ad libbing over adorn for that silly remix they did last year.

yeah that remix was disappointing, but being in the lab together could bring some insane results

new single "Tough Love" premieres on monday night UK time. v excited

Getting chills listening to this: https://soundcloud.com/jessieware/tough-love

Love it.

Not released until August 4th. Please tell me the album is out the week after that.

SO GOOD!!!

emotional jessie music

This is better than "Wildest Moments". Maybe.

Ugh, Ed Sheeran's on the new album.

many things are

xp but that probably works too

oh my god it's even worse

"Benny Blanco to Co-Produce Jessie Ware’s New Album"

benny blanco was behind this song and the "if you love me" cover so idgaf about that

red is still a great album even with sheeran

tentatively like the stuff i've heard from the new sheeran album so i'm probably not allowed to yell about him anymore

can't wait to hear this one live.

benny blanco is my nemesis sorry

"Benny Blanco to Co-Produce Jessie Ware’s New Album"

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

guys please listen to the benny blanco helmed single linked above and then tell me that this album is going to be disgusting or whatever b/c of his presence

ehh it was ok

heard it, doesn't mean benny blanco has earned the benefit of the doubt

no social justice tumblr but let's acknowledge jessie ware's agency here and allow for the fact that her taste is more likely to drive the direction of the album than his

also benny blanco's produced a lot of trash but he's been a part of some classic pop songs

even the good stuff he's done seems at odds with Ware's style but I'll take your other caveat

i think this sounds quite nice so i am not yet too skeptical

ehh it was ok

― The Reverend, Monday, June 16, 2014 5:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it pains me to echo this but I am not super feelin this track

Neither am I. "Imagine It Was Us" spoiled me into wanting a dance track. Linn drum + more melodrama = ehh

yeah we need more "imagine it was" us

us"

i'm feeling this like i'd be feeling a minor album track off devotion, it's totally aight but def no "imagine it was us"

not blanco-sceptical though, he's obv a pox on pop but nothing about this sounds like him and jessie seems to have a knack of making her producers sound like her rather than them (cf julio bashmore, in fact)

god i still can't believe "imagine it was us" flopped when every basic sam smith type seems able to notch up number one hits at will

which is probably why she hired blanco in the first place.

maybe i am wrong but it seems like benny blanco has not been involved in as many hit records lately as he used to be

His last #1 was "Diamonds". Oof.

http://instagram.com/p/p7i5YnnDq4/ <3

omg yes

please please please collaborate!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/s526x395/10380964_703610563027537_2545444901531696597_n.png

i've been playing "tough love" incessantly this week. totally grown on me, amazing song.

so you wanna be a man about it
do you have to?

I love the sango remix.

it's a really beautiful song and as much as we're turning our noses up at benzel in here the production is very well handled - some very pretty percolating bass bits going on.

you would never ever ever guess benny blanco had been near this song if we didn't actually know

https://soundcloud.com/jessieware/jessiewareshareit-all/s-YSfpn

this didn't exactly sink in on one listen but then neither did "tough love", i am happy to spend time with it!

same and same. co written by romy from the xx

this wimpy xx shit is the exact opposite direction i want her music to go

it sounds like she took a bunch of klonopin and hid in a beige blanket fort

What happened to the exuberance of "Imagine It Was Us"??

did you guys miss the bit where "imagine it was us" was a complete anomaly for her? these two singles are more in line with devotion than it was

i mean it is still the best song she's ever done yeah but that doesn't mean that's what we should expect henceforth

They're in line with the slower bits in Devotion I liked less.

almost every song on devotion has way more muscle behind it, in the sade sense, than this or "tough love," both of which are fairly timid.

I was hoping IIWU was like hinting at the direction in which she was headed but instead she was just like HAHAHA J/K GOTCHA and then turned around and ran in the complete opposite direction. Also these two singles don't really seem to do anything magical w/ her voice like most of Devotion did.

i like these songs but they're definitely growers. gonna buy this the minute it comes out of course!

it's two songs, everyone relax

also i'm willing to bet that they're gonna have an american single that is not in the vein of these tracks at all

i like tough love more than this, but it's worth noting that this is going to "appear on the deluxe edition" of the album, which makes me think it's a bonus track

if that's b-side material (or deluxe edition add-on whatever) then i can only believe the non-single tracks are going to be bonkers amazing.

Stevie Deux from what I saw at her show (on the last tour), the new album will include parts of magical voice.

I seen her on 2 diff tours but never playing new stuff :-( I hope it's so good

i have total faith in her. also i disagree with the idea that "tough love" is timid / lacking in muscle.

The Deluxe Edition tracks on the Katy B album are the best ones fwiw. That said I don't think Jessie's album will be as monumentally pissed about with as Katy's.

hmmm controversial opinion i guess but i don't really think the little red bonus tracks are anywhere near as essential as y'all made out initially, a decent number of them are pretty boring + sounded better as snippets than they actually did on the album

anyway i'm low-key into this new track and "tough love" remains good, i see no reason for alarm yet

The clear standout on the Katy B album for me is "Emotions", I really hope that is made a single at some point

same

standard edition track list:

01 Tough Love
02 You & I (Forever0
03 Cruel
04 Say You Love Me
05 Sweetest Song
06 Kind Of...Sometimes...Maybe
07 Want Your Feeling
08 Pieces
09 Keep On Lying
10 Champagne Kisses
11 Desire

Say You Love Me premieres tomorrow.

R’n'b singer Miguel contributes to ‘You & I (Forever)’, ‘Kind of…Sometimes…Maybe’ and ‘Champagne Kisses’

Ed Sheeran features on ‘Say You Love Me’ and James Ford contributes production to ‘Cruel and ‘Want Your Feeling’. Nineteen85, producer of Drake’s ‘Hold On We’re Going Home’, is behind the boards on ‘Desire’, while Julio Bashmore writes and produces on ‘Keep on Lying’. The Invisible’s Dave Okumu, who featured on Ware’s debut album Devotion, appears on ‘Sweetest Song’ and ‘Cruel’.

R’n'b singer Miguel contributes to ‘You & I (Forever)’, ‘Kind of…Sometimes…Maybe’ and ‘Champagne Kisses’

yesssss

Ed Sheeran features on ‘Say You Love Me’

nooooo

I think he's just playing the guitar.

Was hoping there might be a Chance the Rapper feat. somewhere. Looks like for the moment the Arthur theme was the extent of their collab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4TkugrmdQ

that breakdown is prrretty corny

I think I have officially lost all hope and anticipation for this album

we still haven't heard any of the Miguel tracks. There's that

ed fn sheeran?

I still love "Tough Love" but this one, no.

wow a pop singer on the cusp of a potential major career breakthrough made a crossover track, how ever will we cope with this betrayal

solitary posts

Wildest Moments was a crossover track

except it was good

her last albums has songs worse than this

album

well, it's as neither-here-nor-there as, say, Devotion's title track.

the first three singles off Devotion were Running, 110%, and Wildest Moments. It's fair to say this album isn't measuring up so far

those singles also towered over the rest of the album

that's true. Hopefully it's the opposite this time

totally fine with this song jeez

xp those three singles did not tower over "sweet talk" "night light" or "taking in water" in the slightest

that said this is pretty w/e

"Sweet Talk" is my favorite on the first album.

I like the title track a lot, whatever.

Okay, this is already growing on me.

this song and that horrible breakdown are more worthy of jessie j than jessie ware

her last albums has songs worse than this

it has one song that's bad but still nowhere near as bad as this

strictly speaking "sweet talk" was not a single but it was an advance track that they put out ahead of the full release, which reinforced my feeling at the time that all the best songs off that album came out before the thing itself

Her voice sounds amazing on this but the rest of it is really horrible and it upsets me that I'm thinking that.

i think this is actually pretty decent but maybe that's ptsd from my childhood spent listening extensively to AC radio talking

yeah i like this song but i like a lot of obvious garbage

breakdown is a bit much true

I spend my adulthood listening to AC but this sounds like the opening credits Vanessa Williams song to a Disney film.

let a girl get her MOR on, shit

i quit about halfway in tho.

this song and that horrible breakdown are more worthy of jessie j than jessie ware

― lex pretend

This was my thought too and I felt really bad for thinking it.

Still Love Me and No To Love are the only songs on Devotion that are less than great but this is much worse than both.

Still Love Me is my favorite song on Devotion

Swan Song is prob the dud from that album. "No To Love" isn't great either and the rap is bad, but the live version is a gem.

oh daaaaaamn tho this is really really good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOhnBZcxH_g#t=41

yeah that one's outstanding - saw a bit of footage the other day of her performing that in poland

'Say You Love Me' has all the hallmarks of a blatant crossover pitch written by some lazy megabucks songwriter for hire who will later brag about having written in in fifteen minutes in crayon.

it's the Ed Sheeran joint so you're sorta right I guess?

Oh if it was actually Sheeran then I'm fully prepared to believe he earnestly toiled over it for weeks.

with his Crayola 64 box

he saves the gold one for very special assignments

Concentrating intently to ensure he's not going over any of the lines.

the miguel song tho. been in my head all day

i was having a senior moment when i posted my reaction to ed sheeran: i was actually thinking of jessy lanza

..

lol rumor has it that this ed sheeran one is the one interscope plans to push to us radio :(((

it's def in that sandé / sam smith lane

https://soundcloud.com/jessieware/jessie-ware-want-your-feeling

produced by ilx favourite Dev Hynes

rubbish, all rubbish

let us now switch allegiance to sinead harnett

been really forgiving of the last three tracks but this is very dev hynes i.e. blank synth washes and grooveless overstimulated drums, can't get down with it. nice guitar filigrees though

oh why are these all so bad??? and really...personality-free. they don't seem very *jessie ware* at all

Not a huge fan of Dev Hynes but this tracks seems to work for me? I'm not sure, I like the idea reminds of late 80s corny french pop (that willl always win me over) but the whole thing seems very constrained but that could be the audio quality of soundcloud.

I like this more than the last one but I'm not a Dev Hynes hater (at least, not when he works with other musicians)

"Champagne Kisses" is basically the song of the year though

i'm so deeply looking forward to the miguel collabs that i'm going to wish he were on the whole record

"Champagne Kisses" is basically the song of the year though

this is out there? i don't mean a shonky live clip

New song isn't that bad, you guys. Jeez.

xp It's not out there but even the shonky live clips are enough to convince me.

w/ Miguel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvqJd6JBME

THIS IS MORE LIKE IT.

miguelito here to save the day

eh idk it's good but not like noticeably better or anything, still bottom-tier devotion album track level

also discussions of jessie ware's recent output have been veering awfully close, from detractors and boosters alike, to reducing her to a mere muse for her male producers

like if someone came out and said "oops my mistake, it was actually [someone you don't like] who produced this not miguel" nobody would be rushing in to say the day has been saved for jessie's album based on this track lol

best track to me so far is still "tough love" -- could end up being the only track i feel like purchasing

(jk just realized that the song is miguel-cowritten not -produced but larger point still stands re: her male collaborators)

the song is better than most of the non-singles on 'devotion'

it would fit well with that album though

Maybe I'm just too much of a fanboy, but I've more or less loved everything I've heard from the new album, save the bonus track.

I mean, my "THIS IS MORE LIKE IT" indicates otherwise, but yeah

nothing spectacular but every song is good, i'm excited for the album

song breathes hard

bring me some coffee

Miguel is basically Puff Daddy on this song.

eh "Say You Love Me" was boilerplate soul signifiers that made her into a stone bore for the first time

This is more like it.

that's called tuffaluv

wow i've really come around on "tough love" and i liked it to begin with

Only thing so far I've been lukewarm towards is that second song she premiered. Think it was the one featuring Ed Sheeran?

Not listening to new tracks anymore, i'm going to wait for the album.

This is one of the better songs on the album for sure. Yeah, on a par with a good Devotion album track. Monotony is right abt Champagne Kisses tho

the albums is supposedly pretty ballad heavy again

you guys with promos probably can't say much but are you happy with the album on the whole? and i'm guessing there's no imagine it was us pt. ii?

i love "imagine it was us" as much as the next person but for how dope that song was it wasn't really a successful single for her chartwise so i get why she might not have exactly been itching to revive that sound

j0rdan you're a parody of yourself now. must have missed all the successful chart singles off devotion that indicated jessie ware would want to pursue it above all else. why would you want to make an album as amazing as devotion without chart success, after all.

the album is sorta adequate, sort of low key and not exactly overwhelming, though nothing else as terrible as "say you love me". still feeling my way around it but i played it b2b with devotion one day and that did it no favours at all. nothing remotely like "imagine it was us", no. sort of comparable to the ariana album in its flattening out of jessie's personality.

j0rdan you're a parody of yourself now. must have missed all the successful chart singles off /devotion/ that indicated jessie ware would want to pursue it above all else. why would you want to make an album as amazing as /devotion/ without chart success, after all.

the album is sorta adequate, sort of low key and not exactly overwhelming, though nothing else as terrible as "say you love me". still feeling my way around it but i played it b2b with /devotion/ one day and that did it no favours at all. nothing remotely like "imagine it was us", no. sort of comparable to the ariana album in its flattening out of jessie's personality.
--lex pretend

she's a pop singer why wouldn't she take chart success into account? or maybe she just didn't want to do another song like that!

anyway i love that song i'm just speculating as to why she decided not to rehash it on this album and i think one of the reasons may be that it didn't turn out to be that popular!

none of jessie ware's singles have done well in the uk (her best showing is "tough love" which just barely snuck into the top 40). she's one of them 'albums artists' we still occasionally hear about sometimes (devotion went top 5 on the albums chart and is gold-certified) so i would doubt that she's reviewing her singles chart stats much for inspiration on where to go next.

lol she's a pop singer signed to a major label to suggest that her music is made in a context completely removed from "is this going to be popular on a mass level" is absurd

if she herself isn't thinking about it i promise you 15 other people who have input on her music are

zzzz i'm not contesting that, i am saying that the singles charts are not exactly the most relevant metric that she or the '15 other people' are likely to be looking at considering that her previous success was all despite basically all of her singles charting poorly

well i think the presence of "say you love me" sort of refutes your entire point

"we're not concerned about chart success but hey let's see what ed sheeran's can cook up"

I think it's trite to suggest that Ware would have changed the direction of her singles according to the performance of "Imagine It Was Us", given that really it performed about as well as any of her other singles did, most of which have been ballads. "Say You Love Me" is a bit more hackneyed than most of her work and can probably be parsed as an attempt to get that Sam Smith $$, but you can probably substitute any of her singles into an "Well, X song didn't work with the charts so now she's gone Sheeran" argument.

i didn't suggest anything like that, i only made the point because people itt keep harping on "imagine it was us". i was just pointing out that it wasn't a hit or anything so perhaps that is why she didn't return to that well.

i don't see why that's so controversial.

Well, I mean, that could be true, but my point was that none of her songs have been hits so you could make that same argument using any of "Wildest Moments", "Running", "Sweet Talk", etc.

she has 3 top 40 uk singles (more or less), imagine it was us didn't even break the top 100

maybe it has nothing to do with it. i'm not saying it's exactly what happened. i just suggested the possibility & immediately multiple people were like "jessie ware would NEVER think about the charts"

that wasn't what i was saying, i was saying that viewing every pop song solely through a chart prism is really fucking boring

can we have some critical faculties beyond "was this a hit y/n" and "will this be a hit y/n"

it's just considering the full context of the art

i'm on board with everyone who wishes that she would do some more "imagine it was us"-type songs but i don't know how you can discuss why she didn't (which is what we were doing) without at least bringing up how that song performed on the charts

it's mind-reading though

hey y'all, she pretty much played the whole record during her itunes fest set

you guys with promos probably can't say much but are you happy with the album on the whole? and i'm guessing there's no imagine it was us pt. ii?

― uxorious gazumping (monotony), Wednesday, September 17, 2014 7:01 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah p. much -- what I will say is large swaths of this discussion baffle me in a "are we hearing the same thing" way

I don't think j0rdan is wrong in bringing chart positions in if we're gonna discuss possible reasons for why she didn't pursue that sound further. It's all speculation at the end of the day and his response is no less valid than any other. Mentioning that a major label artist's artistic decisions might have been even partly influenced by commercial expectations placed on them isn't "viewing every pop song solely through a chart prism".

that's prob a reference to the ariana grande thread but i think especially in the current climate considering pop artists' motivations is necessary

btw my suggestion is no less mind-reading than people who are rejecting it

we're all speculating

"Imagine It Was Us" always seemed like more of an outlier than a new direction anyway

And the real question is does the new album have anything as good as "Sweet Talk"?

"sweet talk" has been my #1 driving at night jam since I first heard it

I am confident "Champagne Kisses" is gonna be a gem and lex's cosign has increased that confidence.

Oh shit, there's another song with Miguel.

i really love the dreaminess of "tough love," the way the bridge builds and the chorus dissolves, as if trying to grab something just out of reach. feelings about this are probably amplified by the video

at this point i'm obviously not going to get it but i kind of want a whole album of that smokiness

seconding brad. that song is easily my favorite track off the record, exactly the kind of shit i eat up

Mentioning that a major label artist's artistic decisions might have been even partly influenced by commercial expectations placed on them isn't "viewing every pop song solely through a chart prism".

― Greer, Thursday, September 18, 2014 11:13 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, and i'm aware that commercial expectations play a huge role in deciding major label artists' decisions (obv), but...idk as critics/fans shouldn't there be a way to talk about whether those decisions work without constantly being so reductive? i feel like the "obviously jessie ware cares about chart positions" line is a way to justify music that's underwhelming in comparison to past work (and both here and elsewhere, i've seen it implied that if a song/artist isn't as successful as expected, who cares about whether their music is good?)

"tough love" a) did not sound commercial at all on first listen b) is her biggest hit to date c) is still not that big a hit b/c as monotony pointed out, she's never been a singles artist, and if her idea of trying to be one is making bullshit like "say you love me", maybe it would be best for her music if she didn't try to become one

(it also feels a bit like a red herring leading into the album)

"say you love me" gorgon city rmx is pretty pro forma but good https://soundcloud.com/gorgon-city/jessie-ware-say-you-love-me-gorgon-city-remix/s-A9Pqk

90 sec clips for every song are now up on iTunes.

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.

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"

overall i agree it's basically on the level of little red, and my reaction is similar - i don't think i'd be as harsh or vocally disappointed had jessie and katy not set the bar so high on their debuts. and i'm confident they'll go on to make the greater albums they're capable of.

yes, absolutely

I found Jessie's less disappointing than Katy's though, which hasn't grown on me at all and still feels like a bet-hedging mess.

I like them both, commercial compromises notwithstanding.

see for me On a Mission > Little Red, but Tough Love > Devotion

i've got to the stage of enjoying "want your feeling" in my head but it's always such a disappointment when i play it! i blame that ~tasteful 80s guitar riff

the whole song is basically foreplay until the final 45 seconds or so imo

I think I like the bonus tracks now.

looking forward to hearing this album. just had a gander at spotify and saw that "wildest moments" is her most popular song on there by a long shot, which sort of surprised me (i thought "100%"/"if you're never gonna move" was the main single from devotion, not that it should have been) and sort of didn't (i heard it in a yoga class last weekend). "imagine it was us" still best thing she's ever done, imho.

Wildest Moments has over 24m views on youtube

Disproportionately irritated at Miguel for lazily reusing the Jamie, Johnny and Jack line here.

I'm listening again and Want Your Feeling us actually really great. Pieces feels is really corny though.

eh, everyone does it. It's used better here anyway

Don't have much to add in terms of challening opinions, my take on the album is m/l the same as the consensus here except I think that "Cruel" is one of the best tracks. "You & I"/"Say You Love Me" being two of the first four tracks gives a much less flattering first impression than the album deserves imo.

Alfred hasn't linked his review? http://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/jessie-ware-lydia-loveless/

My attempts on Twitter:
Jessie Ware Tough Love impulse vs. control sometimes a draw, but focus sure can spark, esp. bootheel & leverage of "Say You Love Me." DJs!

Jessie Ware, Tough Love cont. Descendant of Prince, Sinead, Sade, understandably cautious vs candid stream: http://n.pr/1phv7BE
That's NPR's First Listen, so prob inactive when alb released domestically. Really like the title track and several, maybe most others, though overall proximity/familiarity might be less of an impact-buffer if heard as singles, EPs than a whole album at once (though only LP length, which is good)

Like she doesn't want dramatic tension of impulse vs. control, candor vs. caution to turn into drama in the pejorative sense