26-year old Jorja Smith has returned to the music scene with her second studio album Falling or Flying, which was released last month through the independent record label FAMM. Smith takes us on a captivating and euphoric journey with this 16-song album, offering tracks laden with jazz drum patterns and hints of electronica whilst simultaneously sticking to her traditional R&B genre.
The R&B sensation has been on the rise since her release of ‘Blue Lights’ in 2016, with her discography including an impressive range of collaborations from Drake to Burna Boy to Stormzy. Whilst her previous album, Lost & Found, which she released when she was 19, explored the coming-of-age narrative, Falling or Flying offers a more mature perspective on the artist’s rise to fame, with Billboard describing this album as Smith “stepping into womanhood.”
The album’s first track, ‘Try Me’, is dominated by groovy drum patterns and laced with short cymbal crashes, setting the tone for the rest of the album, which explores Smith’s journey of self-discovery and learning to let go of the obsession with pleasing other people.
The third track on the album, ‘Little Things’, was released as a single in May 2023, and has already gained over 30 million streams on Spotify. This house-inspired tune offers a perfect balance between electronica and pop, with Smith’s harmonious voice, the funky bass and groovy drum beats leaving every listener bopping their heads.
Her last single, ‘Broken is the man’, which was released the day before the album, is a raw and self-reflective track, in which Smith discusses breaking from a past relationship and the lessons she learnt from this. Compared with the vulnerability of ‘Broken is the man’, ‘GO GO GO’ is an empowering and confident track, talking about a partner who likes to “kiss and tell.” The combination of the harsh drums, the acoustic guitar riffs, along with Smith’s assertive delivery makes this an extremely catchy tune.
Undoubtedly, Falling or Flying demonstrates Smith’s natural ability to push and stretch the boundaries of R&B, yet this perhaps makes the album slightly repetitive. By acknowledging her strengths in creating R&B and soul pieces, Mojo described Smith as being “stuck in a musical straitjacket,” and thus the album lacks the innovation needed to make it spectacular and life-changing.
Falling or Flying marks a pivotal moment in this Brit Award-winning artist’s career. Although we would like to see Smith stray slightly more out of her musical comfort zone, this album has certainly left us excited for her future works.
“Jorja Smith 04/18/2018 #1” by jus10h is licensed under CC BY 2.0.