If you'd have told me at the beginning of the year that this album would be closing in on my top 10 albums of the year I wouldn't have believed you. I probably would've said something like "honourable mentions maybe", but after just one listen I knew that this would be a hard one to top. In at number 12 is Denai Moore with We Used To Bloom.
Not to be misconstrued, I've been a fan of Denai's work for a while now but until this album she was more of a "one to watch" for me. Well thank God I did keep watching because this sophomore record is glorious. This album manages to balance stripped back with powerful almost effortlessly. The addition of horns, strings and backing vocals from time to time lifts the album up where necessary and adds a fullness I can't explain. The album keeps its tone fairly consistent throughout and some may even criticise it for seeming "samey" but the album levels out seamlessly. It's almost necessary because had there been more experimentation, this may have resulted in some of the message being left behind.
Big time favourites of mine at the moment are "Leave It Up To You", "Bring You Shame", "Does It Get Easier?" and "All The Way (fet. Kwabs)". A lot of the tracks on this album feel cathartic -like both listening to it and creating it act as a release for emotions relating to anxiety, political fears, societal woes, depression or all the above. Every-so-often while listening I'll find myself picking up on a particular lyric that just says everything that I didn't even know I wanted to say before. "Does It Get Easier?" in particular was an elevating moment for me on this album - the kind of song that makes you want to just throw your up in the air in agreement.
The album finisher "All The Way (feat. Kwabs)" made it very clear to me why there was only one feature on the whole record - a match made in heaven - leaving the album on an emotionally satisfying note.
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