LOS ANGELES (AP) — The many-time Brit Award nominee Jessie Ware has cemented her status as a modern-day disco queen — from the turning point that was her fourth studio album, 2020’s “What’s Your Pleasure?,” to her sixth, “Superbloom,” out Friday.
On “Superbloom,” Ware leans further into playfulness, not-so-subtly transporting listeners to a time of big hair and light-up dance floors. Her songs, once defined by ethereal, upbeat love ballads, have transformed into sexy, soulful singles about lust.
Her steamy, innuendo-laden “Sauna” evokes Olivia Newton-John’s 1981 hit, “Physical.” “If you wanna / Last longer / I don’t need faster / I need stronger / Take it to the sauna,” she commands over funky synths and heavy breaths.
In her previous discography, Ware has sustained a palpable passion — be it for romance or partying. But that unbridled fervor is generally more restrained on “Superbloom,” perhaps to the disappointment of fans more inclined toward yearning and intensity.
Take the album’s first lyrical track after an instrumental prelude as an example. It’s not that “I Could Get Used To This” isn’t fun to listen to, or that it doesn’t show off Ware’s impressive pipes. It is and does. But a song built around a dearth of conflict and tension, as the title suggests, is bound to feel lacking.
“I, I could get used to this / Tonight I’ll satisfy my every motive,” she belts over an ornate arrangement of strings, synths and background vocals. “Let’s stay here for infinity.”
While not impossible, being used to something — even love or extreme excess — is not exactly a recipe for interesting art. It sets the tone for much of the rest of the album.
There are a few exceptions to that lack of fervor, like in “Don’t You Know Who I Am?,” a kind of empowerment anthem mixed with heartbreak in the tradition of Donna Summer, with strings reminiscent of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
“I walked in this evening / Expecting all the finer things / Like love, a glass of champagne and maybe diamond rings,” she recounts. “And then I saw you dancing with someone else across the room.”
Overall, the album is impressively polished and great for the club. But “Superbloom” would benefit from more drama — and incredulous heartache — worthy of Ware’s powerhouse vocals.
“Superbloom,” by Jessie Ware
Two and a half stars out of five.
On repeat: “Don’t You Know Who I Am?”
For fans of: Chic, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Chloë Sevigny
