Babeheaven - Sink Into Me

West London duo Babeheaven (aka Nancy Andersen and James Travis) have laundered the trip hop-heavy lo-fi of their 2020 debut ‘Home For Now’ for slicker, balmier second outing ‘Sink Into Me’. Conceived with three new members, it reaps the rewards of spending considerable fine-tuning time in the studio. Much like the capital’s genre-fluid forebears Westerman or Nilüfer Yanya, Babeheaven middle that imprecise Venn diagram where R&B cuddles with trip hop, flirts with pop, burlesques with lounging psych. Opener ‘French One’ sets the emollient tone - a song about a car crash that remains dramatic without being tense, propulsive but never unsettling. Cruising lead single ‘The Hours’ meanwhile coasts colourfully like something from a Jane Weaver LP. Even the more shadowy moments, like ‘No Breakfast’ warm the soul like a healing soak in bath salts. Aside from the silky backbeats cotton-wooling ’Sink Into Me’ so breezily, Nancy Andersen’s gossamer vocals provide a stand-out quality here. Proffering intimate lyrics on private grief and personal growth (‘Erase’ finds inspiration in the lifecycle of a moth) with the most gorgeously purified vocal shimmer; it’s the cherry that tops this most satisfying of releases, destined to be set on repeat.