reviews, news & interviews

CD: Jessie J - Who You Are

Can the Essex diva make an album to match her big personality?

by Joe MuggsWednesday, 2 March 2011

Essex siren Jessie J looking more interesting than most of her songs sound

On paper Jessie J is an amazing pop star. Great looking but not willing to play the eager-to-please dollybird, full of cheeky Essex girl vim and verve, clearly musically multitalented, thoroughly immersed in soul and funk, and with a healthy pair of lungs to boot – as her early solo YouTube appearances (see below) amply demonstrated.

And there are bits of this album where she shows what she's capable of, in particular the high-kicking cabaret blues with dubstep bass of “Mamma Knows Best” in which she hollers her heart out like Christina Aguilera at her belting best. “Casualty of Love” is pretty good too, one of those pop-soul ballads that'll suddenly make sense one grey Tuesday morning when it comes on Magic FM – and her frankly ludicrous robot-voiced breakthrough single “Do it Like a Dude” remains as irritatingly loveable (or is it loveably irritating?) as ever.

These are, sadly, oases in a sea of bland, though. The vast bulk of this album is dominated by terminally unfunky mock hip-hop rhythms with strummed guitars, pop dance synths and massed harmonies that completely smooth out all the character of Jessie's voice. The lyrics, too, tend to kookiness and pseudo New Age platitude – about how we're all rainbows or how we don't need money, just to have a good time. The latter sentiment, in recent hit single “Price Tag”, actually almost works as an antidote to acquisitive pop culture, but the effect is ruined a) by the dreariness of the song and b) by its empty – but very expensive – over-production.

Overall it's the sort of washed out, motivational R&B-your-mum-would-like that has sold gazillions of records for UK artists Jay Sean and Natasha Bedingfield in the US, so will probably do just fine for Jessie, and good luck to her; it's just disappointing when we know what she's capable of. Maybe one day she'll go mental and make a loony rave diva album with Andre 3000 guest spots, futurist hip hop beats and heavy-metal guitars. We live in hope.

Watch Jessie J sing "Mamma Knows Best" in her bedroom

Support the future of arts journalism

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thanks so much for choosing genuinely independent arts journalism theartsdesk’s mission has never been more important – in an age of relentless algorithmic recommendation, sponsored content and unreliable AI, the expertise and discernment of individual critics deeply embedded in their specialist areas is absolutely vital.

If you want more of that in your life, why not subscribe now?

If you do this before the 31st August, you’ll be able to keep at this “founders rate” for life: your subs will never increase! You can choose to subscribe annually for just £40 simply click here
or monthly for £5 per month simply click here.

Not ready to subscribe?

If you want to support with a little extra or aren’t ready to subscribe just yet, there’s also the option to give direct to our crowdfunder to support our imminent redesign and exciting expansion with new features and collaborations Simply contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d.

However you choose to be involved, you can proudly say that you are picking the right side in the battle for truth and humanity in the modern information landscape. And we will be very glad to have you on board!