A Sensual Journey Through Time
Jessie Ware’s sixth album, Superbloom, is more than just a collection of songs; it’s an immersive experience that transports listeners to the heart of a late 1970s/early 1980s nightclub. The album builds upon the retro disco vibe of her previous works, What’s Your Pleasure? (2020) and That! Feels Good! (2023), with a rich tapestry of flirty flute, boogie-ready bongos, bass, strobing synth lines, dramatic strings, and chiffon vocals. Each track is a sensory delight, inviting listeners to lose themselves in the music.
On the track “Sauna,” the 41-year-old Londoner teases, “I wanna whisper something naughty, take my clothes off in the party.” Her confident, deeply rooted soul in her vocal is balanced by the abandoned euphoria of a woman away with the glitter ball fairies, making her the 21st century’s answer to Donna Summer.
A New Era of Confidence
Fans of her Table Manners podcast will recognize Ware’s newfound confidence and embrace of fun since the Sade-nodding, soul sadgirl days of her Mercury-nominated 2012 debut, Devotion. Now a mother of three, she has become accustomed to seating A-list guests around her dinner table to share her mother’s home cooking. This experience has helped her strut into her diva era.
“I trust myself more,” she told The Talks earlier this year. Reflecting on the making of Devotion, she recalled needing producer David Okumu to “nurture” her. Now, she prefers to work with those who “challenge” her, collaborating with a range of diva-approved producers on Superbloom, including Stuart Price (Madonna, Dua Lipa), John Shave (Charli XCX, Britney Spears), and TommyD (Beyoncé, Kylie, Adele). The result is a playful record that pushes in different directions without straying too far from the Seventies dancefloor brief.
Embracing the Disco Spirit
Ware, who had a custom whip made for her last tour, used to be squeamish about putting too much sex in the songs. But now she sinks into all the gasping, moaning vocal cosplay of vintage disco. The easy-going opener “I Could Get Used To This” sees her promising “pleasure’s just around the corner” over a terrifically plucked fluid bass.
There’s more come-hithering on “Sauna,” with its bubble-sizzle synth pulse, steamy exhalations, and Daft Punk meets Weather Girls chorus: “I don’t need faster I need stronger.” Trad masc guys are in demand here, with “Sauna”’s call for an old school wood chopper of a guy matched by “Ride”’s manifestation of “a cowboy… a stallion who can go all night.” Over handclaps and a sparkly, pitched up sample of the hook from Ennio Morricone’s theme from the 1966 Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Ware purrs out her yearning for “someone who can blow… my mind” before taking control of the dancefloor with a cry of “Giddyup! Giddyup!”
A Diva in Full Bloom
She hits Shirley Bassey belter mode on “Mr Valentine,” accessorised with Prince-esque flicks of funk guitar and melodic echoes of Irene Cara’s 1980 theme from “Fame.” The rich melodrama and swirling strings get turned up to an imperial 11 on “Don’t Know Who I Am?” (Answer: “I’m the love of your life.”) Ware’s singing is so fluent and flexible she doesn’t need to faff with runs or noodling, and there’s something very soothing in her ability to see the notes cleanly through to their ends.
Like the Pet Shop Boys, Ware is great at bringing the Big Emoting with an edge of wry Britishness. Unlike them, she doesn’t bring much new to the party. At times she sails close to pastiche. For better and for worse, there’s little about this record to suggest it was made in 2026. There’s not a lyric that couldn’t have been convincingly written in 1979. As Ware’s voice floats up to stratospheric high notes on the title track over the ecstatic “ooo”s and “wahh!”s of backing singers, you do wonder if you’re listening to a karaoke version of a lost Minnie Riperton cut. But if that’s the worst I can find to say, then Ware’s clearly acing it. We could probably all use a break from 2026 anyway. DJs should all be rushing out for vinyl copies of the best 1970s album of the 2020s to drop onto their decks.
