‘Wherever there’s smoke, there’ll soon be fire,’ Jessie Ware [Twitter/Facebook] sings on her current single Wildest Moments, a song which has been picking up a ton of exposure recently due to its use in the coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games. For many other hyped artists, having their song used to soundtrack such a prestigious (and, it has to be said, absolutely brilliant, closing ceremony notwithstanding) event would most likely prove to be a step too far, but Ware’s been on the rise since Strangest Feeling dropped last year, and it seems like a natural progression for her. That song (which is streaming below in case you need to catch up), didn’t make the cut for the album. That tells you more about the kind of ambition that drives her more than anything else.
There have been plenty of great pop albums this year, but let’s be honest – we were expecting Devotion to trump them all. 110% and Running were singles almost too good not to be backed up by an album of similar quality – and they still manage to benefit from album context. If this album was anything less than the absolute triumph that it is, it would be viewed as a disappointment. Ware set the bar high for herself, but there’s no doubt about her debut album’s quality. Drawing on UK garage and R&B as much as it does the pop-soul of Wildest Moments (the song which will have put her on many more people’s maps recently), it never overdoes things or confronts listeners with huge, daunting hooks.
True, there are some absolute humdingers on offer here – the swooning strings that open Night Light have provided us with one of the best hooks of the year; it’s not the album’s next single for nothing – but Ware never goes overboard. The subdued title track opens proceedings with a mid-tempo, bass-heavy feel, but she can be forgiven for not kicking things off at fever pitch, because she’s far more subtle than that. She wouldn’t want her voice drowned out by anything, after all, and it is that voice that has the most impact of all, especially when placed on top of soundscapes as relatively experimental as the beat-driven opening to Still Love Me. That song is among the most layered compositions on the album, but it sounds minimalistic.
This is because of the album’s exquisite production, which gives the songs the exact sort of treatment they deserve – No to Love has a sultry guitar line going off in the left channel, while a piano line in the right channel gives the song an extra depth, but everything is perfectly placed. Ware gives the songs what they need, and nothing more. This same sort of trick is pulled off on the smouldering Sweet Talk, on which a juddering beat and a simple bassline provide a platform for arguably the best vocal performance on the album. Of course, 110% follows, and sets up a wonderful finish to the album, heralding the arrival of the sky-scraping ballad Taking in Water, which displays a slightly softer side to Ware’s music, though it doesn’t forget to deliver a stunning chorus.
Devotion is closed out by Something Inside, which ends the album on a high, its cinematic and yearning sound seeming to sum up the entire album in 3 minutes. If the record as a whole can be called strange, it’s because it takes more risks than the average pop album, choosing not to wear its intentions on its sleeve the whole time, and keeping the listener guessing. It’s not a sugary-sweet, pure pop album, almost too saccharine for its own good; it is refined, delicate, thoughtful and earnest; an immediate slow-burner. As oxymoronic as that sounds, I can think of no other way to sum it up. Jessie Ware’s ready to ignite.
Devotion is released on Monday via Island Records.
[PRE-ORDER] Jessie Ware – Devotion [Amazon (CD/Vinyl) // iTunes]
