Jae Stephens: Audacity review – a thrilling lesson in why more debut albums should go for broke
The Guardian · 11d ago · New
Mainstream story
(Def Jam)After five EPs in in seven years, the Dallas native with the big voice pours everything into this bonkers cauldron of maximalist R&B and hyperactive popThere is so, so much happening on Jae Stephens’ debut album Audacity. Thankfully, it seems like mess is her medium. Although the 29-year-old Dallas native is often sold as a big voice – and she undoubtedly does have a big voice – her debut album has more in common with hyperactive, magnetic records such as PinkPantheress’s Fancy That or Salute’s True Magic: recent albums whose need for speed and sweetly toned maximalism fostered an irrepressible sense of personality.Stephens is an apt case study of a career in the contemporary pop industry: she started writing, producing and performing alone in her room, and dropped a whopping five EPs in the seven years before Audacity’s release. She has written with a host of pop also-rans and, inexplicably, hosts a music interview podcast. But listening to Audacity forces me into that age-old cliche: why isn’t this artist a bigger star? Continue reading...
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