by Angus

The Essex born artist Tirzah’s 2018 debut album opens with ‘Fine Again’. It’s a beatless, musically amorphous piece that sees Tirzah using her vocal in a sort of call and response with a harpsichord–ish sample that seems to float through the ether rather than keep time. It’s a slightly disorientating opener that does a great job of introducing us to her smoky, confident voice and dictates a very sparse mood for the album.

That mood doesn’t let up for the entirety of Devotion’s 39 minutes. It’s an album that masterfully utilises loops and repetition as a way of conveying emotion, and often gently manipulates Tirzah’s voice in original and thoughtful ways. We reckon this is one of the last decade’s most criminally underrated albums, and strongly recommend checking it out.

A small preview from Spotify

1. "Fine Again" (2:53)
2. "Do You Know" (3:37)
3. "Gladly" (3:41)
4. "Holding On" (3:19)
5. "Affection" (3:41)
6. "Basic Need" (3:20)
7. "Guilty" (2:54)
8. "Devotion" (4:14)
9. "Go Now" (3:06)
10. "Say When" (4:07)
11. "Reach Hi" (3:51)