Jessie Ware | ||
| Allmusic Biography : A diverse handful of guest appearances and solo singles across 2010 and 2011 situated Jessie Ware in a line of remarkable soul-inspired U.K. vocalists, including Tracey Thorn, Sade, Lisa Stansfield, and Caron Wheeler. Ware, a native of South London, England, arrived with background vocals for Man Like Me and Jack Peñate and took the lead on RackNRuins "Soundclash," where she revealed a voice powerful enough to be heard and felt over a frantic, breakbeat-driven production. By the end of 2010, she issued "Nervous," a collaboration with SBTRKT. The following year was even more productive. Her first 2011 release was "Valentine," a sighing/swooning duet with vocalist/producer Sampha. It was followed by two appearances on SBTRKTs self-titled album, one of which -- the garage/broken beat hybrid "Sanctuary" -- also featured Sampha. "The Vision," the title track on dubstep producer Jokers 4AD debut, was the most impressive showcase for Ware yet, and she closed out the year with another solo single, "Strangest Feeling," a somewhat emotionally wrenching track produced by the Invisibles Dave Okumu. Okumu and Julio Bashmore collaborated with Ware for the singers first release of 2012, the plush sophisti-pop single "Running." An album, Devotion, followed on Island that August. It debuted at number five in the U.K. and was shortlisted for the 2012 Mercury Prize. In 2014, after extensive touring and recording, Ware released the singles "Tough Love" and "Say You Love Me," the latter of which was a collaboration with Ed Sheeran. The album Tough Love followed that October and featured production work from Benny Blanco (Maroon 5, Katy Perry). The effort reached number nine on the U.K. album chart, marking Wares second Top Ten release. In 2014 Jessie also contributed vocals to Nicki Minajs song "The Crying Game," for which she also received a songwriting credit. She returned in July 2017 with "Midnight," the first single from her third record, Glasshouse, which arrived in the fall of that year. The release continued Wares work with Blanco and featured new collaborations with songwriters such as Pop Wansel, Ryan Tedder, and Cashmere Cat. Produced by James Ford and Biceps Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar, Ware issued the one-off single "Overtime" in 2018. The following year saw Ware issue the single "Adore You," which was produced once again by Ferguson, McBriar, and Ford. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 5 Title: Nervous Released: 2010-11-01 Tracks: 5 Duration: 21:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Nervous (04:00) 2 Nervous Dub (04:00) 3 Fright (05:17) 4 Nervous (radio edit) (03:38) 5 Nervous (String VIP) (04:22) |
 | Album: 2 of 5 Title: Devotion Released: 2012-08-16 Tracks: 15 Duration: 57:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Devotion (03:21) 2 Wildest Moments (03:42) 3 Running (04:26) 4 Still Love Me (03:55) 5 No to Love (03:34) 6 Night Light (04:14) 7 Swan Song (03:45) 8 Sweet Talk (03:38) 9 If Youre Never Gonna Move (03:27) 10 Taking in Water (04:27) 11 Something Inside (03:36) 12 Imagine It Was Us (03:26) 13 Valentine (02:10) 14 Wildest Moments (remix) (04:07) 15 Running (Disclosure remix) (05:19) |
| Devotion : Allmusic album Review : A handful of collaborations released during 2010 and 2011 hinted at Jessie Wares range and potential. The singer outclassed her fellow vocalists on SBTRKTs SBTRKT and Jokers The Vision; she displayed exquisite restraint on the formers "Right Thing to Do," while she had her way with the latters lancing title track. Along with the two low-key 2011 singles, "Valentine" and "Strangest Feeling," there were indications that Ware was capable of making something like Devotion -- an album of uncommon depth, a sophisticated but stimulating hybrid of pop, soul, and adult contemporary. Ware works extensively with Dave Okumu, Julio Bashmore, and Kid Harpoon, but its Okumu -- a member of the Invisible, as well as an affiliate of Bugz in the Attic and Matthew Herbert -- who is most responsible for helping Ware prance across the tightrope that comes with making subtle, sophisticated music. Wares voice is an instant draw. Her whispers are as powerful as her wails. Whenever the lyrics read like theyre aiming for the profound but appear hollow, she rescues them with elegance and power impressive enough to astound any of the elders to whom she has been compared -- Alison Moyet, Annie Lennox, Sade Adu, and Lisa Stansfield included. Take the weakest link, "No to Love"; the repeated exasperation "Who says no to love?" seems utterly ridiculous, but the delivery fits into the all-consuming heartache that is alternately concealed and exposed throughout the sets duration. If this isnt the album of the year, its at least the art-pop album of the year, or the neo-sophisti-pop album of the year, or -- beside Frank Oceans Channel Orange -- the alternative R&B album of the year. As far as "proper music" from the U.K. is considered, it belongs in a class with Roxy Musics Avalon, Sades Diamond Life, the Blue Niles Hats, and Caron Wheelers UK Blak. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 5 Title: If Youre Never Gonna Move Released: 2013-01-15 Tracks: 5 Duration: 17:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 If You’re Never Gonna Move (03:27) 2 Sweet Talk (03:38) 3 Devotion (03:21) 4 What You Wont Do for Love (04:04) 5 If Youre Never Gonna Move (Two Inch Punch remix) (03:24) |
 | Album: 4 of 5 Title: Tough Love Released: 2014-10-06 Tracks: 15 Duration: 58:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Tough Love (03:26) 2 You & I (Forever) (03:58) 3 Cruel (03:52) 4 Say You Love Me (04:17) 5 Sweetest Song (03:27) 6 Kind Of... Sometimes... Maybe (03:34) 7 Want Your Feeling (04:21) 8 Pieces (03:25) 9 Keep on Lying (03:28) 10 Champagne Kisses (03:22) 11 Desire (03:11) 12 All on You (05:13) 13 Share It All (04:18) 14 The Way We Are (03:29) 15 Midnight Caller (04:38) |
| Tough Love : Allmusic album Review : None of the singles from Devotion, Jessie Wares debut, cracked the U.K. Top 40, but the album peaked at number five and was nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize. Nominations for several MOBO and BRIT awards further substantiated the singer and songwriters break out status. By the time follow-up Tough Love was released in 2014, the album had already placed two singles in the Top 40. Both were produced by BenZel, the teenaged duo of Umi Takahashi and Yoko Watanabe. Lead single "Tough Love" wasnt far from from the singer and songwriters previous ballads, sumptuous with some aching falsetto lines, as well as drum sounds filched from "Little Red Corvette" as effectively as anything produced by the-Dream and Los da Mystro. "Say You Love Me," the second one, was her biggest hit at that point and also her plainest, written with Ed Sheeran. The album has the same high level of sophistication as Devotion with less stimulating results. Somewhat surprisingly, Dave Okumu, who played a major role in Devotion, has a hand in only two songs, both of which function as high-quality album tracks that are more about mood than anything else. "Sweetest Song," delicate like meringue with sighing synthesizers and light guitar prickles, pleases much more than the other. There are three additional BenZel collaborations. Surprisingly, the one not written with Miguel, "Champagne Kisses," is the best of the bunch, whereas the other two, deftly crafted as they are, leave little impression. Ware continues to express a multitude of emotions with superb elegance. The material, unfortunately, is on a lower plane. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 5 Title: Glasshouse Released: 2017-10-20 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:03:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Midnight (03:57) 2 Thinking About You (03:28) 3 Stay Awake, Wait for Me (03:35) 4 Your Domino (03:47) 5 Alone (03:36) 6 Selfish Love (03:57) 7 First Time (04:05) 8 Hearts (03:33) 9 Slow Me Down (03:24) 10 Finish What We Started (03:49) 11 Last of the True Believers (03:53) 12 Sam (05:15) 13 Til the End (03:02) 14 Love to Love (03:31) 15 Hearts (acoustic) (03:30) 16 Alone (acoustic) (03:46) 17 Last of the True Believers (acoustic) (03:41) |
| Glasshouse : Allmusic album Review : Jessie Wares third album is packed with finely woven adult-pop ballads about lust, longing, commitment, and reassurance -- all traits shared with Devotion and Tough Love -- but it couldnt have been made at any other point in the artists life. The singer and songwriter aimed to complete it by the time she gave birth to her daughter. After some critical straight talk from collaborator Benny Blanco, Ware scrapped an unspecified amount of new material and finished Glasshouse after her daughter was born. The albums standard edition closes with the lone song where the references to Wares life are specific. Written before she had informed her mother of her pregnancy, "Sam" -- named after her husband -- articulates a mix of joy, gratitude, and anxiety via a predominantly acoustic ballad with a familiar poky gait (an Ed Sheeran collaboration indeed). A listener oblivious to Wares private life wouldnt know the full circumstances in which the other songs were written. When Ware sings about missing her baby on "Thinking About You," she means her newborn, with the sweetly yearning "I just wanna feel every little beat when Im thinking bout you" the only obvious indicator that shes not referring to her partner. Glasshouse incorporates the work of over a dozen producers and roughly twice as many additional songwriters. Though Ware co-wrote all the songs and is in full command from start to finish, the album has a stitched-together quality that starts to slowly unravel during the second half. The glistening "Last of the True Believers," a coup of a collaboration (though not a full-scale duet) with the Blue Niles Paul Buchanan, tightens it up with Ware fantasizing about an intimate retreat from the city. That song deserves widespread maximum rotation, along with "Midnight," an exquisite pre-album single co-written and co-produced by wisest collaborative match Pop Wansel (Alessia Caras "Here," Kehlanis "Distraction"). | ||