HOW to follow a debut so elegant, so deeply soulful and – critical to the existence of its follow-up – so successful over the counter, was the challenge confronting Jessie Ware as she began to piece together Tough Love.
Emerging two years ago with the luxurious Devotion, which garnered Mercury, Brit and Mobo award nominations, the London-born English graduate conquered self-doubt to emerge in a post Amy Winehouse world as a warm, powerful and credible voice.
Ware earned comparisons to Sade and Whitney Houston first time around, and from the title track onwards, a shimmering reflection of love both under and spiralling out of control, album number two tugs firmly at the most base emotions.
Ed Sheeran co-wrote Say You Love Me, US soul star Miguel lent a hand elsewhere, and where Tough Love doesn't smoulder it soars, hitting its peak on the delectable Champagne Kisses.
John Skilbeck
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