Jessie Ware is a girl in love. She is so in love that she latches on to a lover so tight that she won’t care about the hurt that is hurled at her. She loves too much even to the point where she loses all confidence and admits “I know I’m the weak one.” No wonder her debut is aptly titled Devotion.
The lack of confidence though is not obvious up until a few listens. “Still Love Me” perfectly captures Ware’s self-awareness and lack of confidence. In it, she repeats the line “If I make myself understood/ Will you treat me like you know you should?” At first listen, it sounds like a line from a power pop anthem, but the verses reveal it all. The lines “Why’d you want me?/ Why’d you stay so close?/ You’re still not leaving?/ Was I enough?” are key to understanding the over-all psyche of the record. She is unconfident and wonders why someone might look at her with interest. The song becomes a statement on confusion and self-deprecation, radically different from, say, the standard story of falling in love instantly then popping bottles all night long.
Unknowingly, Ware flips the script of a normal pop song on her listeners. She juxtaposes pop music which is characteristically cocky and in-your-face with subtlety, self-awareness, and shyness. Here, Ware created an album that is seductive, hurt, hopeful and above all, loving. The lyrics and production makes the record sound like Sade foraying into dance music while listening to The xx. That intricacy adds more to the magic.
The title track which opens the album is an eerie plea for love where Ware asks “Can we find a way to bring you back again?” It’s dark and broken and Ware seems like she is singing three meters from the mic. Her whispered coos are set against dark tinklings and an atmospheric reverb. Given the production that calls upon stormy clouds, Ware seems to already know how her lover will respond to her question.
Around an unrelenting beat, Jessie Ware is at her danciest on “If You’re Never Gonna Move.” The line “feel free to touch me” will be an invitation for a rude boy in a Rihanna record, but Ware does something wonderful with it. Hearing her sing it, while someone creepily chants “carving my initials on your forehead” on the background, turns the line into a call of desperation.
The poppiest moment in the album is “Sweet Talk.” Although the title exudes sexiness and all the lovey-dovey things couples do, but once the verses sink in, it is clear that Ware is a victim of love. "Don't keep me with the kisses, there's never any there when I need," pleads Ware to her emotionally abusive partner. Amidst the pop sensibilities of the song, with the lines “but you give me the sweet talk/ And it works for me/ You give me a reason/ So I never go,” Ware sounds helpless.
Wildest Moments is a hands-in-the-air, stadium ready power ballad. Amidst cavernous drums that normally, others would exploit by sending their voices out to space, Ware does otherwise. She does not go for bombast to be impressive, rather she delivers it delicately and packing it with power and emotion, that is all too moving.
Most of the album is an exercise in control and Ware’s voice is constrained but there are clues to what that voice is capable of. She veers and hides away in the pristine production, but, the moments where she lets loose are few yet stunning. Soul ballad “Taking In Water” is one of those moments. Much like the ocean, her voice reaches tsunami-high and yet preserves the vulnerability. On the verses, her voice is brimming up until the chorus, where her voice explodes along with the synths around her.
“Running” is the album highlight which won’t feel out of place in a Sade or Prince record. It’s soulful. It’s funky. It’s velvety smooth. It is another moment where Ware let’s go of control and proves that voice is effective, regardless of how low or loud she uses it. In the middle eight where she belts out "I want to know is it mutual?/ Am I ready to run?/ Am I ready to fall?/ I think I'm ready just to lose it all" amidst a guitar run is the sexiest moment of the album.
Album closer “Something Inside” finds Ware shying away and in search of hiding. “Offer me something inside/ A place to go, a place to hide,” she asks. Her vocals, set upon a smooth and atmospheric production, turns into gossamer and completely disappears into the stratosphere.
Somehow, the thematics does not bring the album down. After all, Adele gained universality with her Someone Like You. Being weak makes her all the more likable and believable. With that voice, she could sing Rebecca Black’s “Friday” and it will sound like Whitney’s “I Have Nothing” and you will be fooled into thinking partying is so much more. The way she delivers her lyrics with such vulnerability makes it all the more personal. She successfully turns the universal into something specific. Unrequited love is never a new inspiration for a song but in Ware’s capable hands, the listener tends to feel his own experiences. Unlike Adele, who through her songs, makes strangers feel her anguish, anger and love, Ware makes her stories the listener’s story.
Perhaps, the shyness comes from the experience of starting out as a back-up singer. But that soulful voice paired with the impeccable production is lethal. Ultimately, she’ll soon be following her predecessors such as Adele, Amy Winehouse and Florence Welch. Stunning voices mixed with artistic ease. Ware, initially, may not have dreamt of becoming a pop star, but with such credentials, that is highly unlikely.
Her brand of soul, easy RnB, and subtle dance may very well be a sign of the impending shift in the pop landscape. In a few months, we may have a new superstar.
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