Yazmin Lacey
had written extensively and performed on an informal basis but had no true musical ambition until she was invited to take part in BBC DJ
Gilles Peterson
's Future Bubblers, a developmental program for emergent unsigned talent. From 2017 through 2020, the singer/songwriter established herself through three choice EPs of progressive R&B revealing a strong jazz influence.
Voice Notes
, her first album, is another advancement.
Lacey
's reflections and observations on life and love are typically lucid and conversational. More often, they carry an immediacy befitting the album's title, and the singer's easygoing nature is always evident, her voice consistently mellow if always enchanting. When she makes known, over lapping drums, "Emotions rulin' me, feels like I'm drowning -- huge waves into fire," she sounds unfussed to the point of being sanguine. Her "la-di-da" way of concluding with "There's comfort in chaos/Maybe I could just lay here" is emblematic of the album; she is one of those singers whose voice never outstays its welcome. Just the same, production from new collaborators
Dave Okumu
(
Jessie Ware
,
Niluefer Yanya
) and
Melo-Zed
maintains a soothing quality -- the efforts of additional players and co-writers such as drummer
Dan See
and multi-instrumentalist
Zachary Cayenne-Elliott
all finely braided and coated. That's not to say the album is edgeless or lacking in moments of pure delight. "Late Night People," in the same untroubled and convivial spirit as
Allen Toussaint
's "Night People," has a contagious bounce to it. "Bad Company" grapples with an imaginary enemy inflicting self-doubt but just as easily could soundtrack a skip through a park. Funkiest and trippiest of all is "Sign and Signal," where
trusts her sixth sense, lets go of her fears, and celebrates her "rebel heart with a big smile." Intoxicating lovers rock and spangled folk-soul are in the mix too. ~ Andy Kellman