YAZMIN LACEY Vinyl & CDs

Review: Across a run of three outstanding EPs since 2017, Yazmin Lacey has slowly and steadily brought her cool and assured strain of neo soul into earshot, regularly popping up on festival line-ups and aligned with a resurgent UK jazz scene. Now we finally get to hear her stretch out on an album which takes its inspiration from the raw honesty of voice notes as a means of communication. Teaming up with the likes of Craigie Dodds, JD.REID, Melo-Zed and executive producer Dave Okumu, she's more than delivered on her promise with an outstanding, deep and nuanced album that hits true from the first beat to the last breath.

Review: After her magnetic debut EP for Running Circle in 2017, Nottingham's Yazmin Lacey lands on our charts with her follow-up 12", a piece of work that sounds deeply accomplished and expansive for being her second EP to date. Largely roaming within the jazzo-sphere, When The Sun Dips 90 Degress is a beautifully seductive five-tracker, with the artist's voice reigning supreme over the cascading showers of piano keys and subtle electronics, somehow tapping into the Alice Coltrane sort of vibe. There's no harp here, but plenty of soulful charisma. Fear not thy devout jazz fanatic - this can get real deep and real smooth. It's a broken beat fan's dream some true. More from Lacey is, indeed, expected in the remainder of the year. Marvellous stuff.