Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance. It’s a gloriously warm, soothing listen, filled with surprising sounds and an impressive range, from the intimate, fluttering, fluid lead vocals and quiet organ, breaking into rippling piano and rich harmonies of Something Is Broken, a song about self-healing. Deus Deus is another of the standouts, bringing a reggae groove, mixing the sensual and spiritual. Dreamer Too is has a wonderfully woozy feel, with guitar strums across a lovely chord sequence, and fabulous sotto voce control. Another, Moonlight, has a dream-like, otherworldly opening before breaking into catchy R&B and sensual dream pop with a flavour also of trip hop and beds of electronica, exploring the self and identity (“Now you're moving with intent, you found a new direction/Travel from the heart and you might reach a new dimension/ Took every disappointment in your stride / Never looked back, nah/ Black, and you know how to walk in your power/ Proud, cause you know you've put in all the hours”) with a talking section over shimmering chamber pop that muses on the nature of meaningful religion as something earthly, in the here and now, and practical - “how God is a verb that we make and live with each other”. It’s a profound and beautiful number and arguably the centrepiece of album. Other standouts include the stripped back, beautiful, vulnerable, sensual strings and vocals on the mid-album sequence of In Real Time, Call Me (a) (B), and Here Comes The Sun, and in between short, light, philosophical talking interlude pieces, the soulfully sunny My World (Beyond), to closer Bright Lights: “No time is the right time / No road is the right route/ Keep looking for bright lights/ Let truth be your guide.” A gorgeous, sensual, uplifting release. Out on 5dB Records.
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