Reviews

Jessie Ware “That! Feels Good!” Album Review

That! Feels Good!

Jessie Ware

  • Genre: Pop
  • Date: 28 Apr, 2023
  • Content: Not-explicit
  • Track(s): 10
  • An EMI release; ℗ 2023 Universal Music Operations Limited

Due to her severe battle with imposter syndrome, Jessie Ware was once on the verge of abandoning the music business. After firing her management team, Ware remodeled herself as a disco queen, and on her new album “That! Feels Good!” the singer amps up the fun even more throughout ten thrilling songs as she finally fulfills her full potential.

On “That! Feels Good!,” Ware has added more disco lights, an additional layer of unrepentant naughtiness, and produced a neo-soul project that entices listeners to dance. Ware claims that her fifth album was the consequence of letting go of “years of anxiety, imposter syndrome, and all that fretting,” which is clear from the confidence she exudes on the record.

Album Cover Art

Jessie Ware &Quot;That! Feels Good!&Quot; Album Review, Yours Truly, Reviews, March 29, 2024

Jessie looks entrancing on the cover of her new album, beautified with nice earrings, matching large pearls around her neck and smaller pearls that go from her shoulders down to her back. Her hair is creatively done up and styled into folds wrapped around each other. We’ll be wrong to not acknowledge that clear, glowing skin screaming, “That! Feels Good!”

Tracks and Features

Ware wrote the title tune with the help of Shungudzo, Daniel Ford, and Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. It begins with an orgy of breathy voices reciting the title phrase before morphing into a limber disco-funk jam full of scratchy guitar, blasting horn bursts, and a supple, syncopated bassline. “Just remember: pleasure is a right,” sings Ware. It’s an encouragement as well as a rallying cry: don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. That’s a theme that runs throughout the record.

In “Free Yourself,” Ware goes disco diva with an anthem of sexual liberty for both LGBTQ and straight folks. She appears to use her entire vocal range, shouting the chorus as the song transitions from piano-driven disco to piano-driven house and back again for the gratifying final vamp. Ware occasionally enjoys the sensation of being openly horny. “Freak Me Now” begins with some obscene groaning before transitioning into sticky electro-funk.

In “Shake the Bottle,” she provides a cheeky how-to guide for getting her off. According to Rolling Stone UK, Ware penned “Shake the Bottle” with RuPaul’s Drag Race on her mind. It would be appropriate because the song finds Ware reminiscing about former flames and why they fizzled out. She educates the listener on how to make her “bottle pop” with lengthy, champagne-laden metaphors. The backing singers’ “oohs” and “aahs” then join her. It’s youthful, brilliant, and theatrical.

The entertaining “Beautiful People” features Ware singing about putting on a purple leather jacket or mixing a drink. It’s clear that this song is intended to be played while you get ready to go out, and it continues the album’s encouraging positivism theme. On the gauzy trip-hop slow jam “Lightning,” there is a gorgeously revitalizing tonal shift. If this album were a party, “Lightning” would be going outside for a smoke and feeling the cool night air on your face.

In the silky dance song “These Lips,” she depicts an amorous sensation: “These two lips could do so much more,” she coos. When the album pinpoints that irresistible connection between body and emotion, it is at its utmost best. “Begin Again” sounds like something from the vintage Salsoul catalog, all groove-heavy with beautiful, choral harmonies that cascade off of one another. It’s a cry for rejuvenation and human connection, which the dance floor is especially suited to deliver.

Tracklist

NO

TITLE

TIME

1 That! Feels Good! 4:22
2 Free Yourself 3:54
3 Pearls 4:03
4 Hello Love 4:42
5 Begin Again 5:24
6 Beautiful People 3:35
7 Freak Me Now 3:28
8 Shake The Bottle 3:23
9 Lightning 3:10
10 These Lips 4:21

Album Theme

“That! Feels Good!” focuses on the numerous benefits of dance music. In the pursuit of ecstasy, emphasis is placed on the body and bodily feelings, while inhibitions are cast aside, even if this merely entails vanishing alongside one’s ego into a mass of dancing bodies.

Production Credits

James Ellis Ford & Stuart Price produced the album.

Stream

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