From the Promoter

When Jessie Ware first started singing she side-stepped the glare of the spotlight, initially performing as a featured artist on club tracks by SBTRKT and Joker, preferring alliance over eminence.

But that all changed in 2012 with the release of her debut album Devotion. Recorded with little fanfare in low-key sessions with Dave Okumu of The Invisible, it became one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, lauded by everyone from Pitchfork to Heat Magazine and nominated for the Mercury Prize. Plaudits were followed by an ever-expanding fanbase, meaning Ware was constantly on tour as she gained millions of new devotees from across the world. Those new fans included the biggest stars in the world, with everyone from Katy Perry to Taylor Swift piling on the praise.

In fact it was the mania of Jessie’s schedule that led to “Tough Love”’s creation. It was written last May, “after a really gruelling period of shows, to the point where I had just completely run out of energy.” Ware took a breather for a few weeks in New York and began working on this understated, sore love song, where attraction and heartbreak are ambiguous.

You can hear the leaps in production and songwriting that come with experience and an expanded team. While the record still draws on the suave, svelte palette of synths and bass heard on Devotion, they’re combined with more confident choruses and lush arrangements. Jessie’s stunning vocal is brought to the fore - it often feels she’s whispering right in your ear

Devotion collaborators Dave Okumu and James Ford worked with Jessie again, but there are also a few household names on the record this time round. Miguel, who had previously worked with Jessie on her remix of his track “Adorn”, wrote with her on a string of sessions in the US. A long cry from her makeshift studio in Okumu’s Lewisham front room, he would bring R&B royalty in to hear their work - J.Cole could be seen poking his head round the door.

Blanco was keen to get Ed Sheeran, who he’s worked with in the past, to write with Jessie on the record, but their busy schedules made it tough. Then one night, "he happened to be in New York recording SNL at the same time as me, so we made it happen. He came round, we went down to Whole Foods, bought a couple of salads, went up to Benny’s apartment, he started playing something on the guitar and I swear we wrote the song in 30 minutes. It’s called ‘Say You Love Me’ and I had to have it on the album.”

Jessie’s got a lot to be proud of on this record - but more than a musical evolution, this also marks the beginning of Jessie Ware - not the backing singer or the club-track vocalist or the girl done good - but the star. “I can’t keep going round going ‘oh my god, this is happening.’ I feel more confident and I think that shows on the record, even the way I deliver the vocals is more upfront. Being a singer is a fucking wicked job, but it’s definitely my job now.”

Promoter