Helena Jesele - Sweet Sticky Fix
Artist: Helena Jesele
Album: Sweet Sticky Fix
Label:
Rating: 4/5
The retro soul genre has had a resurrection worthy of Lazarus over the past couple of years, but while Adele and Emile Sande are treading one path, newcomer Helena Jesele is going another route. And in some style too.
The Irish singer has big hopes surrounding her debut album, with her collaborating with not only Adele and Aloe Blacc’s producers Truth & Soul but the Amy Winehouse producer Paul O’Duffy. On this evidence though, it doesn’t look like we’re all going to get a lot more used to her name in 2013.
While the word retro is thrown at a whole bunch of singers these days, Jesele’s debut truly deserves the title, the all-natural recording and lavish, grandiose instrumentation evoking memories of the soul greats that have captured hearts for years before.
It’s big band instrumentation induce images of smoke filled jazz clubs, sharp pinstripe suits and femme fatales, something that Jesele’s honeyed vocal just eases into your subconscious. It’s a combination that so easily could have felt tired and predictable, but instead just feels right.
Despite the classical inspirations clearly on show, this isn’t an album stuck in the past, with plenty of tricks up its sleeve to make it far from just another vintage knock-off, with Jesele’s utterly captivating tones alone making it memorable.
Another overriding factor of Sweet Sticky Fix is that the entire album feels extremely cinematic. Right from the first chords to the last beats, this feels like an album made to be sampled by Tarantino, or to be found on the soundtrack to a remake of LA Confidential. Smash My Heart alone feels like the closing credits to any self-respecting noir flick.
The album isn’t perfect though. It’s slow pace is a divisive factor that will either envelope listeners like a velvet blanket or turn them away and the middle portion of the album is weaker than its bookends. These though are minor gripes compared to the whole.
Sweet Sticky Fix is an extremely assured, slickly produced and confident debut and is a fantastic message of intent from Jesele. As she says herself, “Let the game begin”.
Sweet Sticky Fix is out on February 4th and make sure you read her exclusive interview with us right here at FemaleFirst.