REVIEW: JessB releases debut album 'Feels Like Home'

Aotearoa/New Zealand’s JessB is one of her country’s most influential artists as well as being a leading light in the local R&B/rap scene.

Today she releases her highly anticipated debut album Feels Like Home. Featuring 12 tracks, the album features collaborations with Sampa The Great, Kranium, Sister Nancy and Gold Fang and explores both the physical definition of home but also the sense of contentment and security that is found when you find yourself as a person.

““Feels like home” can mean so many different things,” Jess says. “I think it's about feeling at home with where you're at, where you've come from, and where you're going. So it's kind of like a past, present, future thing - where it's constantly moving and changing. Feels Like Home is a marker in my journey that has been and is still evolving. Navigating a career in music, whilst also navigating finding identity and self simultaneously. One could not have expanded without the other. For me, the music that has been created over the last 4 years for this album is a direct reflection of the changing sounds of my life. It has been a process of finding a home in how I see myself and how I choose to show up in the world.”

Traversing rap, R&B, hip-hop along with flashes of traditional pop, Feels Like Home is brash, gritty, heartfelt, compelling and a musical feast. JessB’s versatility is on full display, not just in the sonics she authentically inhabits but also in her ability switch between rapping and her quite beautiful and expressive singing voice.

The album kicks off with a bang with ‘Power’, featuring Sampa The Great and Sister Nancy. It’s swaggering beats and collision of three music queens sets the tone for the album, with the first lyrics being ‘Cause I came and I saw and I conquered’.

Single ‘Come Find Me’ opens with a tinkly, electronic beat and is a highlight, bringing a dance, almost trancey, sound to the album. ‘My Luck’ has a quiet, more sensual feel to it as Jess sings of a romantic encounter she throws herself into whole heartedly while retaining an almost innocent thrill that it is even happening at all: ‘I’m the one you’ve chosen…can’t believe my luck’.

‘Uh Huh’ is a blast, with its largely lyric-less chorus and melding of rap and vocals in a soundscape that again leans into trance and experimental sonics. Latest single ‘Commando’ is pure rap-R&B-hip hop that drips with moody attitude, and as the album moves towards its close Jess takes on a quieter, more introspective mood. ‘Waiting Patiently’ is absolutely beautiful and perhaps the album’s most traditionally structured song, with a gentle R&B-pop sound that best showcases her amazing voice which brings a vulnerable, softer feel as she reaches into her upper register. Lyrically, she sings of a relationship that is temporarily broken but with the knowledge it will one day be repaired. ‘Wrote myself a letter / Told myself it’s gonna get better / Won’t always be like this for us…I’ll be waiting patiently’.

‘Where Are We Going’ with it’s na-na-na refrain and hits of brass instruments, plus funky beat mixed with dancehall sounds, it is a brilliantly addictive track, while the album closes with ‘Long Time Coming’, a powerful rap track. Just like the album set the agenda with opening track ‘Power’, the album ends with JessB reinforcing that message and exploring how far she has come: ‘There’s still a lotta days I don’t feel like me…but I keep pushing for the ones that see / And every day forward is a brand new key.’ It also features the brilliant lyric: ‘It’s been a long time coming / I shoot like Murder She Wrote.’

Feels Like Home is a remarkable album that confounds your expectations at every turn, and solidifies just what an impressive artist JessB is. There is a true variety of sonics on display, with hardcore rap tunes sitting comfortably besides more traditional pop and nightclub sounds. A confident and strong debut album, it’s easy to see why JessB has become one of Aotearoa’s major talents and on the strength of Feels Like Home the acclaim she is receiving is only going to continue to grow.

Feels Like Home is out now via Warner Music. You can buy and stream here.
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