A handful of collaborations released during 2010 and 2011 hinted at
Jessie Ware's range and potential. The singer outclassed her fellow vocalists on
SBTRKT's SBTRKT and
Joker's
The Vision; she displayed exquisite restraint on the former's "Right Thing to Do," while she had her way with the latter's 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 it's 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.
Ware's voice is an instant draw. Her whispers are as powerful as her wails. Whenever the lyrics read like they're 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 set's duration. If this isn't the album of the year, it's at least the art-pop album of the year, or the neo-sophisti-pop album of the year, or -- beside
Frank Ocean's
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 Music's
Avalon,
Sade's
Diamond Life,
the Blue Nile's
Hats, and
Caron Wheeler's
UK Blak. ~ Andy Kellman