Jessie Ware - Superbloom 

When Jessie Ware first announced details of her newest, sixth full-length earlier this year, its title begged for warmer days and lighter nights, for a sense of joy to grow and blossom from the darkness of recent months. With ‘Superbloom’ - plus an impeccably well-timed bout of springtime sunshine - the South Londoner has managed to channel exactly what was promised. Building on the disco-tinged, funk-flecked foundations of her previous records - 2020’s ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ and 2023’s ‘That! Feels Good’ - Jessie continues her journey to becoming a modern, soul-pop legend with a set of songs so palpably feel-good that it’s impossible not to start shoulder-shimmying at any given moment.

From its hazy, sun-drenched introduction in ‘The Garden’ through to the star-filtered lead single ‘I Could Get Used To This’, via a range of technicolour, Studio 54-esque offerings, ‘Superbloom’ is a luscious environ in which to get lost, where romance, flamboyance and flirtation take centre stage. And while this kind of delicious, opulent cosplay has come to feel rather familiar for Ware over recent years, ‘Superbloom’ feels even richer, glossier, with her vocals sounding their strongest yet. Throughout, she glides through styles effortlessly; one moment, channelling Annie Lennox (‘Sauna’), the next, Shirley Bassey (‘Don’t You Know Who I Am?’), all with a lick of Grace Jones’ empowered attitude (perhaps strongest on the NYC Downlow-inspired, queer classic ‘Ride’). A remedy to the darkness of life as we currently know it - and a timely reminder that love and joy should still be celebrated and sought after - ‘Superbloom’ is a glorious ode to connection, and Jessie’s most evocative work yet.