Jessie Ware is back. Finally because, to be honest with you, our copies of 2012's Devotion have practically worn out. The South London girl quickly won hearts with her down-tempo power ballads – fusing 80s minimal beats with rich (and subtle) Sade vocals was always going to garner her a wide audience. When she was nominated for a Mercury Music Award, even my mum rang me up to tell me how great she thought the album was.
So, what does her new album, Tough Love hold for us? Despite the fact it's produced by super-producing team BenZel (or Two Inch Punch and Benny Blanco, whose knob twiddling you'll have heard on Katy Perry's California Girls, Keisha's Tik Tok and loads of other chart smashes) they haven't added g-string shaking rhythms to our girl, she is just as suave as ever.
We managed to track Jessie down between wedding planning and album launching for some chit and general chat.
Hi, Jessie! Talk me through what you've been doing this week.
(Excitedly) Well, I've really just been getting back into the swing of promoting an album and planning a wedding at the same time.
Which is most stressy?
Ha. Both are all right really. There are moments when I'm with mum and she'll give me the worried eyes, like she'll go, 'Have you done the place settings,' and I'm like, 'No mum we're not doing table names, people can plonk themselves down wherever, we'll just tell them what table to sit at,' and she's like, 'Ok but what about origami boats for the names?' Other than that, everything should be all right. I've got a good sound system and my dress is sorted and I think my husband is coming, soo....
Sounds like you're sorted.
I'm doing the Jewish blessing tomorrow and I have to speak in Hebrew, so I've been doing prayer-oke on Youtube. That's about as good a Jew as I am.
**There's a massive ballad on the new album, Say You Love Me. It sounds like your Celine Dion moment.
That's my moment, it's my big ballad. I wrote it with Ed Sheeran. It's the last song on my album that I wrote. I guess you maybe wouldn't think of us working together but he was in NY when I was there and agreed to a session. That guy is so talented. We wrote it together in 45 minutes. He knew how to direct me, how to bring out the best of my voice; he's prolific and I feel like that song is going to change people's attitudes [towards him]. Sometimes, when I sing, I hold myself back a bit, but Say You Love Me just feels so good to sing, and I really get to sing on it.
I love it.
It makes me happy that you like it! I feel like the general consensus on it has been that everyone's been happy to hear me sing like that because I feel like people always think of me as being subtle. Ed pushed me and I'm happy that he did, even though it does feel different.
I've heard you worked with some other amazing people on the album too.
Yeah, I mean, I worked with a lot of the same people from the first record, but I also worked with Benny Blanco and Two Inch Punch and Miguel. He was fucking brill. He's a G. He seems, like... I mean, he's a massive star and seeing him work is....
How does that kind of thing come about?
We'd met before and I called in the favour and he did two days in the studio with me. He was there before me, every morning, much to my embarrassment. He put so much love into working with me. I worked with Dev, too, and Emile Haynie, who I'm off to meet now, he's done Eminem, Kanye, Lana...
Wow.
I feel like people that I've worked with are all friends, you know? Like Romy, it's all come from people who are up for working with me because they're my friend or because they liked my album and that feels reassuring.
Does it ever feel weird?
Yeah sometimes it feels weird and too good to be true. I don't know, I think the person who makes me realise it's not normal is my boyfriend. I'll be like just face-timing Miguel and he's like 'that's fucking weird he's a star'! I found it overwhelming in LA. Because everywhere you go there's 'someone.'.Benny is a massive producer and everyone knows him or wants to know him and he has people who wants to be friends with him and you bear witness to that. There was a point where I was like: 'I'm not going to the Chateau Marmont because I'm not staying there and I want to go to Brockwell Park and be normal'.
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It's important to hold on to your reality, isn't it?
Absolutely. The person I'm marrying has nothing to do with music. He's normal. my friends are my friends from school or uni and I have my new friends in music and that's brilliant. Music is subjective, people want to listen to your music and then they might not and once they don't want to listen to it then your career is up.
Well, that's kind of true. Do you go out a lot?
I'm quite antisocial. I like being at home and cooking.
What's on the menu?
We've been really healthy - I did a lovely puy lentil and butternut squash thing. I feel so boring. My porridge is really good. I mix it with hemp seeds. I sound dry!
Not at all! Ok, so is it true your mum still calls out any h8rs that comment on your videos?
Ha! No, I told her to ctfo on YouTube. I sometimes reply to haters, and it shocks them. But to be honest, haven't encountered that many haters. You have to shrug it off. Take it with a pinch of salt. You know?
Jessie has just announced her new album Tough Love. Pre-order it here.
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.