Jessie Ware has dropped her fourth studio album What’s Your Pleasure? this morning, which takes her music in a different direction than her previous albums. In the past, she has written dancefloor hits, soul, R&B and she has even featured on electronic and dubstep tracks. This album, however, is full of disco and groove tracks which are definitely still floor fillers.
The album, which has twelve tracks is fifty-three minutes of euphoric sounds and passionate lyrics which ends with a song called Remember Where You Are. This song, Jessie told Billboard, was written after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister and she felt the song reflects that “everything’s gone to shit, but remember what’s important” feeling that existed then and is prominent in 2020. Her intention is to remind everyone that while we feel held down by the world, we need to keep fighting.
In an interview with Billboard, Jessie describes this album as the album she needed to make, for many reasons. One being that her previous album Glasshouse underperformed which led to a tough tour, financially and also mentally, leaving her in a “hard patch.” She also felt like her fans needed the album during the pandemic saying; “I think people need distraction at the moment, and that’s the beauty of dance and disco — it can provide euphoria.”
This is why Jessie was determined not to push the date back because of the global pandemic, instead opting to make the album as visual as possible, creating lyric videos and making the fans feel as involved. She added; “I know loads of people are going to get fans dancing, but we’re just trying to make it feel as artistic as possible. If we can get a visual for every song, that would be amazing.”
However, when Jessie realised that her original album release date would coincide with Junteenth, a celebration in America to honour the day of the emancipation of enslaved people in America on the 19th of June 1865, she decided to postpone the release of the album until the 26th of June. Jessie said in an Instagram video that “It’s an incredibly important day for Black voices, and I don’t want to distract from those voices or those experiences or stories in any way.” Jessie has spoken out openly about her support for the Black Lives Matter movement on social media and in an interview with the Independent. She has also attended protests in London, which she described as “peaceful and powerful” despite the media reports.
Jessie has also accepted the chance to perform this album at Glastonbury 2021. While talking to the event organiser Emily Eavis on Jessie’s podcast Table Manners, Eavis asked Jessie right there and then would she perform at the festival. Jessie jumped at the chance saying; “Absolutely, 100 per cent. I was like, there, watching my opportunity to play this album pass me by.” She is the first artist confirmed for the festival.
