Be Right Back was the title of Jorja Smith’s 2021 EP, intended as a “waiting room” for her sophomore long-player, ‘Falling and Flying’.
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As it turns out there was quite a gap to bridge, but two years later – and a full half-decade since her debut album ‘Lost & Found’ – the Walsall-born singer has finally returned.
However, fans of the two-time Brit Award-winner should be well pleased with the results. As have reviewers, broadly praising the variety of styles showcased among the 16 tracks as well as the reduction in numbers of down-tempo ballads, instead resulting in what may be a sound truer to herself.
This may be partly down to Smith’s choice of producer for the new release, which effortlessly broaches any gaps between Jazz, Soul, R&B and Funky House.
Much of the creative energy that shaped the album emerged from studio sessions with the producer duo DAMEDAME* back in her hometown of Walsall.
The album is both a sonic and an emotional tour of where she’s been, and what she’s been about in the past two years, ‘Be Right Back’. “It touches on breakups, relationships with my friends, relationships with old friends, relationships with myself,” she says. “It’s definitely about a lot of relationships, but every song I write I can sing it to myself.”
And Smith has been writing songs for a while – since the age of 11, in fact. In 2012, a friend uploaded her cover of Labrinth’s ‘Earthquake’ to YouTube, which was spotted by record producer Guy Moot. Two EPs were followed by the release of ‘Lost & Found’s in 2018, that debut peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart. The same year, Smith won the Brit Critics’ Choice Award, followed by Best British Female Artist at the Brit Awards as well as picking up a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
And now she’s back – entering a new chapter in music as well as life. “I like this world that I’ve just come into,” she says. “And I’m still figuring things out. Always figuring things out.”
“This is the first time I’m putting stuff out there that I can connect with right now,” she continues.
Fans will agree that the new album is well worth the wait.
This article originally appeared in the Portsmouth News.
Also chief newshound at Jockrock
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