Deepest Desires

Jessie Ware “Midnight”

I’ve appreciated Jessie Ware’s earlier work, but never connected with it until hearing her new record Glasshouse. Two things changed – the songwriting has leveled up, and her voice has become more confident and focused. Her phrasing now reminds me a lot of Anita Baker and Whitney Houston in the ‘80s – bold and assertive in expressing emotion, but shaded with nuanced, complicated feelings. Her performance on “Midnight” is particularly excellent, with her contrasting a soft, fragile tone on the verses with a direct, passionate approach on the chorus. The vulnerability leads to strength and vice versa, it’s presented as a continuum of intimacy and lust. The music shifts too, starting off in a more atmospheric space not far removed from a lot of other contemporary pop before shifting into the firmer structure of a chord sequence that sounds quite a bit like Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets.”

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