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Lydia On Jessie

Our music critic Lydia Bowden on Jessie Ware



Dubbed the new Katy B, may I introduce to you Jessie Ware - a brand new artist that I think is in a whole league of her own.

It seems Jessie has been floating around for about two years, lending her vocals to other artists like SBTRKT and Jack Peñate; she even released an EP in 2010 that completely flew over my head called Nervous. At that point she was turning heads about 90 degrees, not quite 180 yet, but now our heads have gone full circle.

Jessie has been releasing little tasters for quite a while now, hinting that her first debut album is going to be a work of genius and come at us all with force. Singles ‘Running’ and a personal favourite ‘110%’ are full of soulful and chilled whispers, and it’s clear that from working with DJ Joker, a subtle dub-step beat has slipped its way into her music which gives it a need to be listened to.

She calls Diana Ross and Chaka Khan her inspiration, which explains that 80’s vibe in ‘Running’. Her most recent single ‘Wildest Moments’ really is something special. The song opens with a mixture of ghostly whispers and a tweeting of birds that breaks into a sharp continual beat for the rest of the song. The repetitive line ‘Baby in our wildest moments, we could be the greatest, we could be the greatest’ makes you really think about your own relation to the song, which is something that’s hard to find in most pop music these days.



Her debut album drops on August 20th, so this leaves me no option but to repeat the same three songs over and over again- and I’m fine with that. 

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Poetry Pleases! said…
Dear Lydia

I had never heard of this particular chanteuse but after your enthusiastic encomium I shall have to check her out!

Best wishes from Simon
Mon Jul 16, 11:28:00 am 2012
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