Mahalia - Love and Compromise

The Guardian 60

(Warner)

Mahalia’s overly anointed status still raises the hackles somewhat. Signed since she was 13, the Leicester singer-songwriter enjoyed early support from Ed Sheeran, putting out a 2016 debut project, Diary of Me, whose freshness was hampered by its fence-sitting between guitar balladry and soul. Love and Compromise is technically the 21-year-old’s second album, but is being pushed as her debut proper. It resolves the genre problem, having opted for an eclectic take on British soul-pop. Despite the emotional content here, Mahalia exudes a breezy mellowness, with thoroughly 2019 themes rubbing up against retro stylings.

Do Not Disturb feels like a natural successor to Mahalia’s best-known older track, Sober. Where Sober was inspired by her tendency to text while tipsy, Do Not Disturb finds her locating her phone’s leave-me-alone function. There other modish inflections here: the trap skitters of What You Did, and the 90s R&B moves of He’s Mine. Mahalia’s distinctive coo and audible Caribbean heritage dovetails naturally with the global moment for dancehall, so that on-trend moments such as Simmer (featuring Nigerian Afrobeats powerhouse Burna Boy) feel organic rather than laboured. Contrary to the default sizzle of both genres, however, Mahalia is telling a love interest to simmer down. Elsewhere, the desire for mutual respect and a suspicion of compromise (voiced by an Eartha Kitt sample) also echoes loud and clear.