On Jessie Ware’s previous record, 2020’s 'What’s Your Pleasure', the London singer rebranded herself as a disco soul act, presenting elegant grooves and retro melodies that really built out her sound. New album 'That! Feels Good!' continues the development of those themes with tracks that are larger and more diverse.
It’s broad-ish sophisti-pop with a joyous underpinning. But the quality creeps up on you. Songs like Free Yourself and Pearls are fundamentally quite off-the shelf pop songs but with highly creative flourishes baked in. In Free Yourself this is the case with a focused and memorable middle 8 section, in the case of Pearls, it’s the complexity and varied textures of the instrumentation.
For anyone who has listened to Ware’s popular podcast—hosted with her mum—the embellishments to her pop persona as an all round entertainer should come as no surprise.
She is a chatty and humorous storyteller, and with a large enough audience this material feels like it could form the basis for a Las Vegas-style stage show akin to those performed by Adele or Tom Jones.
If there is a complaint with 'That! Feels Good!' it is probably that so much of the album feels a little derivative. Previous records, though occasionally lacking in consistency, did feel like they had more individualism, and despite the thrilling single Begin Again containing some fantastic Latin disco tropes, there is very little here that you could describe as groundbreaking or original.
But it is a record of high, high quality and one that feels current, despite the vintage arrangements. It would be interesting to see how some of these tracks do internationally as the sound appears tailored to larger venues.
Jessie Ware Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri November 10 2023 - MANCHESTER Victoria Warehouse
Sat November 11 2023 - MANCHESTER Victoria Warehouse
Mon November 13 2023 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Tue November 14 2023 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Fri November 17 2023 - LONDON Alexandra Palace
Sat November 18 2023 - LONDON Alexandra Palace
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