Right Before We Cross The Line

Cleo Sol “When I’m In Your Arms”

Cleo Sol made her new record with the producer Inflo, who also produced the two Sault albums from last year. There’s a very similar aesthetic to this music – classic soul rendered with warm, foregrounded bass and ample negative space that highlights the precision of all other instruments in the mix. “When I’m In Your Arms” is gorgeous stuff – that lead part that sounds like backmasked guitar, the tastefully deployed harp, the gentle percussion accents, that swelling string arrangement that seems to drop out entirely like there’s an on/off switch for the orchestra. Sol’s vocal performance is sultry but understated like classic Sade, and delivers lyrics about a tormented relationship with thoughtful nuance. Every aspect of this recording is done with so much care, and it’s all in the service of highlighting the emotional complexity of the dynamic between these two people.

Buy it from Bandcamp.