Album Review: Self Esteem, A Complicated Woman

How do you follow up a BRIT and Mercury-nominated phenomenon like Prioritise Pleasure? Pop polymath Self Esteem – aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor – seizes the opportunity with panache on her brilliant third LP, A Complicated Woman.

The album again channels the themes that have become the artist’s calling card, offering stream-of-consciousness deliberations that shed light on the feminine experience in all its colours. Putting these introspective meditations to a strong backbeat may seem unusual, but it works wonderfully, offering bright soundscapes to revel in.

The album also sees Self Esteem candidly reflect on her remarkable rise.

Standout ‘If Not Now It’s Soon’ boasts a cards-on-the-table honesty, recalling the hypersexual, booze-addled and self-destructive years before the singer came to prominence. “You wonder who it was who made the choices in that town,” she croons, before her friend, actress Julie Hesmondalgh, sings in response, “Something will happen because it’s got to / It’s not just perseverance we need, it’s patience.”

It’s a stunning thesis-statement from an artist who simply gets better with each release.

8/10

Out now