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

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?

:’(

seriously though, cautiously excited

burned enough by anticipation for dream collaborations before to know that I shouldn't get my hopes up too high

was hoping it would be a new track but this is pretty cool too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1pOvK9URyU

The rumour is she has a new song coming out this Friday ahead of Glastonbury which is a Romy duet with Stuart Price. I kind of ended up hating most of T!FG in the end, but I loved the Romy album from last year so...for the time being I'm cautiously optimistic.

I'm surprised you ended up hating most of the last album monotony. It didn't take over my life like What's Your Pleasure but I still enjoy most of it. Romy's album is better though. That one is still on regular rotation, especially as our daughter still asks to hear Enjoy Your Life almost daily.

Hating is probably overstating it. But the impression I was left with was that the album seemed like a very deliberate attempt to recapture the magic of WYP, and in the end it came across to me as the work of someone who wasn't relying on intuition...it was more calculated, if that makes sense. There was also a certain garish tackiness to it all which is less my speed than WYP's elegant sophistication. And ever since I read Alfred's Peloton instructor critiques in this thread, I've not been able to shake that image when I listen to "Free Yourself" lol.

All that said, I do like Freak Me Now (non-Terfy-Murphy version), and when I saw her live at the end of last year she put on a fantastic show and I'd absolutely see her again at the first available opportunity.

Yeah, I totally get that. There's a few songs in the second half that don't quite work for me now. The songs that would make my own Jessie Ware best of playlist would be the more understated ones like Lightning, Hello Love and These Lips which ended up being my favourite song on the album.

I am kind of fascinated by the reaction the last album got. On RYM it's rated almost as highly as WYM. It also got some of the best reviews of her career. Over on Popjustice people are as divided as they are on here. A lot of people were disappointed with how kitsch it was. A few friends on another music forum I post really dislike it too.

What's Your Pleasure is still probably my album of the decade so far (Mercurial World being the main competition) and was a tough act to follow. I'm kind of hoping she brings back some of the moodiness and elegant sophistication as you say for the next album. Maybe revisit the Devotion era sound or maybe something like The Kill which is the one that gets me the most these days from WYP.

Is it her New Jersey?

my kids absolutely adore T!FG and that's totally fine with me.

this is the kinda song that I bet sounds great at Glastonbury but at home I'm just kinda bored by this tbh

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

Kinda gives me...Deborah Cox remixed by Jayda G. I don't dislike it per se, but I think Romy gets drowned out by Jessie (in the chorus particularly) and so is almost superfluous in the end.

Musically it sounds more like Romy's album than That Feels Good. I really like it.