Jessie Ware — That! Feels Good! — Album Review
Pop | Disco | Singer-Songwriter
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
The London-based singer-songwriter known as Jessie Ware was someone that I discovered through her fourth studio album, titled What’s Your Pleasure?, and released in 2020. However, it was an album that I didn’t fully listen to until the very end of that year. Once I did that, however, I cam to love Jessie’s sound extremely quick. In fact, it was pretty much active the moment I listened to said album. As they say, better late than never.
That being said, I was extremely keen to keep my ears pricked for whatever Jessie Ware may have musically for the foreseeable future. And in the year of 2022, we had our first heralding of a new album on the rise in the form of the teaser track “Free Yourself”. From that moment I listened to said track, the prospect of a new Jessie Ware album had become one of my most anticipated musical moments of 2023.
The hype towards Ware’s fifth studio album only heightened with the release of “Pearls”, which was released to us back in February this year. Released at a very apt time (one in which I achieved the extensively premeditated dream of living independently), this track succeeded with flying colours when it came to bringing out the feel-good in me.
Things only ramped up from there. Jessie Ware’s third and final teaser for her new album, titled “Begin Again”, came at yet another important time in my personal year, in which my financial security had been confirmed by the news that i had passed my probation period on my day job.
I know that I’m bringing up a lot of my own personal goings on in this here album review, but I feel that it is an important factor to consider, when you regard the sentimental value an album can have. In the case of 2023, Jessie Ware’s brand new album, named That! Feels Good! was indeed the album that has already been a tremendously sentimental project, even before its release. And now that it has finally arrived, I feel that the fondness I already feel for the album will only continue to grow.
On top of simply having the pure sex appeal of an album with such a title, That! Feels Good! also stands as a tremendously…well..feel-good album, both lyrically and musically. On top of that, there’s a very good sense of versatility in the album’s moods, and an authentic disco feel to really spice up the project, not to mention that it simply laughs in the face of many other recent pop projects that have aimed to achieve the same aesthetic.
While I find myself enjoying different parts of the album depending on my mood, and of course the fact that there are tracks on here that do stand a highlights for me personally, all of the tracks on here miss on That! Feels Good! hit the mark, and serve a purpose towards making the giving the album a feel good energy, add to its atmosphere, or sometimes both.
I never knew that the likes of Whats Your Pleasure? could be topped, but That! Feels Good! achieves that, and then some. It’s fair to say that with this album, Jessie Ware sets a new standard for pop artists everywhere.
Favourite Tracks: That! Feels Good! | Pearls | Hello Love | Begin Again | Freak Me Now
EMI | Universal Music
