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CMU Approved
Approved: Jessie Ware – Tough Love
By Aly Barchi | Published on Tuesday 17 June 2014
Perhaps the main British isles-based artist captaining R&B’s rising ‘alt’ renaissance, relatable diva Jessie Ware released her first LP, ‘Devotion’, in 2012, straight off striking a chord of commonality with fans with its poised and non-flashy proclamations of love.
‘Devotion’ is a record I find I’ve gone back to over and over, if only to know again the same flood of solace in Ware’s high-soaring, low-swooping swallow’s voice, and the eerie synth cadences of Julio Bashmore and Dave Okumu’s beats and arrangements, or simply the click of self-identification I get hearing the elemental lyrics to tracks like ‘Wildest Moments’.
Released last night, Ware’s new track ‘Tough Love’ finds her still spiriting the 1980s-style sophisti-pop spectre of, say, Sade; only tailoring its form more closely to an original, contemporary fit than ‘Devotion’ ever did. Lacking in big-hearted declarations and playing instead on a quiet strength, it states its emotions, and its low-impact synth glow, oh-so-softly.
‘Tough Love’ doesn’t sound a lot like a ‘big’ single so much as a sign of bigger things to come, still it’s more than worth listening to for now:
