Be Right Back
is intended to tide over listeners before the true follow-up to
Jorja Smith
's Mercury Prize-nominated
Lost & Found
. While the way
Smith
described these songs left the impression that they are offcuts, she also said they were created out of necessity. The singer and songwriter certainly doesn't seem to be merely finding her bearings here, as the eight songs are almost uniformly downcast, coping with loss, longing, and disconnection while articulating daily struggles from making ends meet to mental health. It's weary with rare exception and rigorously purposeful throughout. Most tantalizing is "Time," a primarily acoustic and live-sounding piece. It has the makings of a career highlight with a sneaky-brilliant summoning chorus --
's graceful high notes pierce the soul -- but cuts out around the 80-second mark. Among the more fulfilling tracks are "Addicted," a tightly wound ballad about a lover lost in the throes of substance abuse, and "Digging," a ruminative downer jam of sorts with a tight grip from the first couplet: "I'm drivin' 'round with my old feelings/Few of them in the back screamin'." These songs stand on their own and bode well for the second album. ~ Andy Kellman