Jorja Smith’s professional career has been extremely hectic in the early going. The British singer, who is only 20 years old, had her breakthrough with a stunning performance of “Get It Together,” off Drake’s More Life album, thanks to a few incredible hits. Smith was caught up in a terrible news cycle that she was unable to break when there were speculations that she and Drake had briefly dated. Drake seemed to address these rumors on Scorpion a year later. Prior to that, Smith published her debut album Lost & Found, which displayed her sophisticated composition and flexible vocals as she moved with ease between jazzy experiments and searing ballads.
She had discovered her calling, so it makes sense that her follow-up album, Falling or Flying, took more than five years to come out given her lack of life experience and the amount of things that were thrown at her at once. Smith muses about the many changes that can occur in a person’s life over the course of five years in the lead single “Try Me.” On the hook, when she sings, “Nothing is ever enough,” and she denies ever having switched up on anyone, her rage explodes. Smith’s emotions are violently released throughout the song, suggesting that she has a lot on her chest that needs to be let out. But the opening half of the record largely lacks the fervor with which she addresses the rest of it. Smith explores more sounds and subjects in the first five tracks than she has in the past, producing some of her best work to date. With her seductive voice, Smith masterfully combines the fast-paced UK Garage sound with “Little Things,” revealing a fiery side of herself that she doesn’t often show off. J Hus and Smith’s second song of the year, “Feelings,” depicts them as both sensual and vulnerable as they glide over the hot beat with a Caribbean touch.
The song “GO GO GO” feels lifeless because of a dull combination of radio-friendly drumming and acoustic strings, even though the most of the enjoyable aural experiments are effective. With its emphasis on a well-earned breakup, it makes an attempt to fit in thematically, but it is unable to get past a weak chorus in which she sings “Now” more times than is necessary. In a similar vein, the song “try and fit in,” which follows, defies the beliefs of finance bros by mocking her partner for being more interested in his growing wealth than their fading romance. Fortunately, Smith doesn’t typically struggle with songwriting. “I don’t know where you are, but I don’t wanna go to sleep, babe / I know you care, but please, don’t take it easy on me, babe / I could be fallin’ or flyin’, I wouldn’t know the difference,” she sings in the passionate title track, appearing to be in a state of limbo. The tension of not knowing if she’ll wind up with a man who can’t decide adds to the ambiguity in her lyrics and worry in her voice. Smith is obviously thinking a lot. The songs in the latter half all deal with different aspects of her personal life, from singing about gaslighters on “broken is the man” to discussing the future with a man she now clashes with on a regular basis on “Lately.” The tracks seem to merge together with one other, dragging the last run into a little slowdown even though she depends on ballads to carry the album.
English