The music Slowe has written for her new album In Moments is gentle and laid-back. She describes her music as having “a sound inspired by soul and neo-soul, steeped in indie, with a few splashes of jazz and a touch of psychedelia”. LSD-inspired riffs and phrases may be absent from her second album, but the soul and jazz vibe is very much present.

The twelve tracks on In Moments are exquisitely delicate, sensitive compositions, recorded with equal sensitivity. Sophie Hawes – Slowe’s real name – mixed and produced the album herself. This lends the album additional charm and unshakeable authenticity – “pure she herself”.

The tracks oscillate between classic soul and songwriting, enriched with a contemporary sound and feel and a pinch of Bristol, where Slowe lives and where bands like Massive Attack and Portishead are based (ok, Portishead are based next to Bristol, in the coastal town of Portishead itself). The label’s marketing describes the sound as ‘vintage’, and atmospherically it is, at its core, similar to the music of, say, Joy Crookes. Nevertheless, Slowe is different

‘The music just meanders along’ was a comment made when selecting the album for this review, and that’s not wrong. Slowe takes her time. This fits with the introspective nature of her lyrics. In How Hard Can It Be? she sings of how tough change is, and in Temporary (You’ll Be Gone) of the longing—or rather the willingness to long for—the beloved, precisely because they are loved.

“This album is a meditation on change: fearing it, needing it, and learning to let it shape me,” she says of her latest music. In the mix, she has left herself space, which she skilfully adapts to the character of each track. Not Asking The Stars delights with its airy atmosphere and expansive vocals. Its counterpart could be Careful Now, which, whilst also sounding spacious, scores points for being significantly more focused and featuring more intimate vocals. In fact, it’s brilliant that the vocals in every song sound as though they’ve been placed within the space.

After 43 minutes and 55 seconds, the final note of Sundown fades away. But this is no sunset, for the album can be played from the start again. And that is highly recommended. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Slowe