Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
by Zena Grieg
published: 13 / 9 / 2020

Label:
Virgin
Format: CD
intro
Positive and optimistic disco-influenced fourth album from chart-topping singer-songwriter Jessie Ware
In 2012 Jessie Ware received a Mercury nomination for ‘Devotion’, her debut album, attracting attention here and in the USA. After two less well-received follow-ups ‘Tough Love’ and ‘Glasshouse’, co-hosting the lifestyle podcast ‘Table Manners’ with her mother Lennie gave Jessie Ware the space to re-evaluate things and now the South London singer is back with her fourth album, ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’. Produced by James Ford, this is a vibrant collection brimming with escapist disco tracks. Lyrically the focus is on love and lust. For Ware the premise was: “Will this make people want to have sex? And will this make people want to dance?” The album opens with ‘Spotlight’, a theatrical slow-burner about longing and rejection –“Tell me when I’ll get more than a dream of you” - showcasing Ware’s mellifluous vocals, before transforming into a catchy pop song, delicately underscored by strings and synthesizer. The title track’s hushed vocals, sparkling synths and insistent disco beat are reminiscent of Donna Summer. ‘Mirage (Don’t Stop)’ has a rhythm and melodic vocals redolent of Soul to Soul. And ‘Ooh La La’ is a kitsch tune displaying Jessie Ware’s sense of humour, incorporating the trademarks of a classic disco song – buoyant percussion, earworm bass and shooting synths. Pulsating with drum machine beats and strobing basslines, the collection also features moments of intricacy, as in the love song to her as yet unborn child, ‘Adore’ with its tonal shifts, and sensual R&B track. ‘The Kill’ with its cinematic frame deals with the anxiety accompanying first sexual attraction to a stranger: “I follow you through the night like a dog with the scent of your cologne….Don’t try to kill me with your love.” The album ends in a joyous, soulful finale ‘Remember Where You Are’, an apocalyptic love song. A myriad of influences from the past shape the songs, but this is very much a contemporary collection, showcasing Ware’s revitalized lyrical and musical competence. Ware is delighted with the new release, saying she has regained all her previous optimism: “I’m back to my first love with this album… It is a cheerful, happy, positive record – just what is needed for these troubled and dreary times!” This encapsulates the vibe of ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ – a winning formula.
Track Listing:-
1 Spotlight2 What’s Your Pleasure?
3 Ooh La La
4 Soul Control
5 Save A Kiss
6 Adore You
7 In Your Eyes
8 Step Into My Life
9 Read My Lips
10 Mirage (Don’t Stop)
11 The Kill
12 Remember Where You Are
Label Links:-
http://www.virginrecords.com/https://www.facebook.com/virginrecords
https://twitter.com/virginrecords
https://instagram.com/virginrecords/
most viewed articles
current edition
Spear Of Destiny - InterviewRobert Forster - Interview
Fiona Hutchings - Interview
When Rivers Meet - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song
Brian Wilson - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Chris Wade - Interview
Pistol Daisys - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Credits - ARC, Liverpool, 17/5.2025
Gary Numan - Berserker
most viewed reviews
current edition
Peter Doolan - I Am a Tree Rooted to the Spot and a Snake Moves Around Me,in a CircleGarbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
Vinny Peculiar - Things Too Long Left Unsaid
Little Simz - Lotus
John McKay - Sixes and #Sevens
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
HAIM - I Quit
Morcheeba - Escape The Chaos
Vultures - Liz Kershaw Session 16.06.88
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart