FEATURE:
Second Spin
Jorja Smith - Be Right Back (E.P.)
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AN artists I have loved…
and been a big fan of her since her debut album, 2018’s Lost & Found, Jorja Smith is one of our finest artists. The Walsall-born artist put out the E.P./mini-album, Be Right Back, last year. Rather than it being a bridge, transition or music gap like some have said, it is a wonderful work that didn’t quite get the amount of buzz and attention as it should. I usually feature older work and concentrate on albums. I wanted to make an exception for Smith’s incredible E.P. from last year. I want to bring in a couple of reviews. One is a little more mixed, whereas the other is positive. There is a quick interview that I am going to bring in first. ELLE spoke with Jorja Smith last year and, among other things, wondered why we need to hear Be Right Back:
“Be Right Back is a must-listen because...
I hope it gives people a moment to escape to a safe place. I wrote these songs over the last two years because I needed to clear my head and feel better about certain situations. You’re never alone and music is so wonderful at letting people feel like they aren’t. This project is like a waiting room to my second album, I haven’t written it yet but I miss my fans and performing so I just wanted to give them something whilst I work on this next chapter. I’m 23 now, and my debut album featured songs I wrote around the ages of 16-18. I’ve matured and I’m evolving constantly and with this project I think you will hear the change.
What I’ve been listening to recently...
I mostly listen to music while I’m driving at the start of my day; when the sun is coming up and the roads aren’t too busy. I’ve been listening to Bellah's 'Evil Eye' COLORS performance a lot, it's incredible. She starts the song saying, ‘Say a prayer for me, I’m surrounded by some people that need prayer mommy’. Every line is just too honest. Then also the flows on Amaarae's 'Sad Gurlz Luv Money ft. Moily' are so hard and I’ve had Estelle ‘Wait A Minute’ and ‘Break My Heart’ on repeat too.
I will come to an interview from a few years go, as there are some interesting questions and answers that caught my eye. Before that, I shall come to reviews for Be Right Back. This is what NME noted when they sat down with the 2021 E.P./mini-album:
“In the past year, two-time Brit Award-winner and Midlands representative Jorja Smith has been flying under the radar. She featured on the Tiktok hit ‘Peng Black Girls’ by rising star Enny, put out the dancehall-infused ‘Come Over’ with Jamaican superstar Popcaan and dropped her own songs – the sticky ‘Addicted’ and the plaintive ‘Gone’ – yet has herself been staying out of the limelight. But it’s all for good reason: the 23-year-old is releasing her next album very soon. To tide us over until that day comes, she has given us ‘Be Right Back’, a so-called sonic ‘waiting room’ for all her fans to jam out in.
The eight-track record opens with ‘Addicted’, an opportunity for the Walsall R&B star to show off her sugary vocals. The first big comeback song after acclaimed 2018 debut album ‘Lost & Found’ sets clashing live sounds against ethereal ambience. And Jorja’s just getting you pumped for what seems like an earnest follow-up.
‘Be Right Back’ also sees the 23-year-old dabble in the afroswing sound that defined her first British top 10 hit, 2019’s ‘Be Honest’. She and the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of The South’ Shaybo explores the luxurious lifestyle an artist, which still doesn’t fix the feeling of being used. Here we see a different side of Shaybo – who is known for her aggressive, cocksure rhymes and delivery – as she slows it down with an emotionally intelligent breakdown of the juxtaposition between fame and happiness: “Even with drip, I feel drained / It’s getting long just like braids”.
‘Weekend’ showcases the operatic side of Smith, who goes up into her higher register on the chorus, singing: “I stand out there where it always came alive / Wasting pennies in the night”. Hitting these hit notes, she evokes the alternative stylings of Willow, moving away from her traditional soulful and garage sounds. This minimalist, streak is exciting and refreshing – especially in an R&B world that seems to be rushing back to more traditional and ‘00s-referencing sounds.
As Jorja Smith takes her time to release a second album that lives up to the hype, the steadily sombre ‘Be Right Back’ is a perfect prelude to her next chapter. Experimenting with different vocal registers and taking advantage of how harmoniously her voice goes with live instruments, she’s shared a collection that should leave you itching for her next step. If these are loosies, it’s proof of how top-notch her craft is”.
In a slightly more positive assessment, CLASH held praise and respect for an artist who is going to be an icon. A terrific R&B artist whose yet-to-be-announced second album will be hugely anticipated, Be Right Back signals that we may not have to wait too long until we get that album:
“Jorja Smith nailed down her velvet-tinged neo-soul persona on debut album ‘Lost & Found’, a wildly successful record that thrives on intimacy and nuanced, with its subdued tone reliant on her sublime vocal control. There’s a fair argument, however, that this isn’t Jorja in her full 360 – often her most thrilling music comes in a more up tempo sphere, placing her voice against club tropes. With that in mind, Jorja’s ongoing post-album song cycle has brought some of her most thrilling music – the spicy Popcaan collaboration ‘Come Over’, the powerful ‘By Any Means’, or her Ezra Collective enabled take on the Blue Note classic ‘Rose Rouge’.
‘Be Right Back’ – a project, not an album – builds on this energy, expanding on the luxurious modern soul of her hugely successful debut while adding a few nods to the underground in there, too. It’s a thrilling listen – upping the pulse while refusing to sacrifice her innate sense of control, it arguably contains of her best music to date.
‘Addicted’ is a sensational opener, Jorja’s vocal laden down with regret on top of those endlessly undulating drums. ‘Gone’ taps back in her UK roots for the production, with 2-step spectres interwoven around her half-spoken lyric. ‘Time’ – one word titles are a hallmark of her newfound directness, it seems – is a downbeat piece of acoustic reflection, while ‘Burn’ is carried along by those jazz impulses, a kind of London-centric Soulquarian vibe.
Largely shorn of guests, ‘Be Right Back’ does make room for Shaybo on summer-ready bouncer ‘Bussdown’; a truly addictive piece of songwriting, it’s almost tailor made for those festival sets – should they get the go ahead from authorities, of course.
Closing with Jorja’s wonderfully organic paean to freedom, ‘Weekend’ finds her vocal pirouetting into the upper register before surging down to those crisp, carefully articulates expressions of empowerment. It’s a tour de force in her abilities, but it works mainly due to its emotional pull, a heart-heavy heft that aspects of her debut lacked.
A project of persona evolution, ‘Be Right Back’ finds Jorja Smith in motion – she’s opening out her sound, and finessing her approach. The results are immaculate – and she’s only just getting started”.
As mentioned, there is another interview that is worth drawing in. SSENSE spotlighted the remarkable Jorja Smith a few years back. It is great reading interviews with her, as she is very straight and honest with her answers. Whereas some artists are reserved or put on a façade with interviews, Smith is always herself:
“How has your life changed?
Lack of privacy. Everyone wants to know what you’re doing. Everyone already knows what you’re doing. Everyone has an opinion on what you’re doing. Did you see the photo I posted in the red dress and everyone commented that I look pregnant? I get it, I don’t have the flattest tummy. What I don’t understand is why people would choose to spend three minutes of their day making someone else feel like shit. I try not to pay too much attention to it because you can get really sad and it’s not real, none of it is real.
When was the last time you were scared?
I’m not really scared of anything. I’m quite confident. If anything I scare myself, like I’ll have a headache and then I’ll worry something really serious is wrong with me—I’m the worst. So is my boyfriend. We’re the worst. Imagine. It’s awful because I’ll be like, “Stop telling me there’s something wrong with you.” Then I’ll be like “I’m going to the doctor’s because I think there’s something wrong with my head.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Sylvia Austin
What would be your perfect day?
The perfect day would start with me waking up and understanding that Joel might sleep in. I’m horrible, usually if I’m awake that means he has to be awake. I’ll make myself a cup of tea, let him sleep and not freak out and think he’s dead—that’s happened before. Once he’s up, we’ll make some music together and then go for a long walk. I like walking, if it’s the perfect day then nobody will stop us for a photo because he always has to take it and I feel bad. I’m really conscious of time, so I would try my best to be patient and go with the flow, but I would know exactly what time we’d be going for food. I’d get dressed up and we’d go out for lots of food, with all the courses and more. I love sushi and he likes lobster. Then we’d go for a night walk and run around central London. That’s what we do sometimes, or he runs off”.
I am not sure what this year holds for Jorja Smith. I suspect that we will get an album from her soon enough but, as she put out Be Right Back fairly recently, there is this new music out there that we can enjoy. I don’t feel the release got as much love and airplay as it could have done. I normally do concentrate on albums of the past for this feature, but I wanted to separate this from my Revisiting… feature (where I look back at albums of the last five years that is worth another listen), as Be Right Back is genuinely underrated and should be played more. With such a terrific voice and an incredible songwriting talent, Jorja Smith is…
A stunning artist.