Essential new albums

Jessie Ware: Devotion
If you only listen to one urban-edged neo-soul superstar-in-the-making this year, make it Jessie Ware. The demure, liquid-voiced south Londoner is the new heiress apparent to Adele’s reign as queen of the music charts; that Ware will almost certainly be described as ‘the new Sade’ won’t hurt her record sales either. Her rise has taken her from odd jobs as a guest vocalist (most notably on tracks by SBTRKT and Sampha) right through to bona-fide solo appeal. The production on this debut is a touch of class – complex, mesmerising and smooth as silk. The album grooves, sways and sticks in the hum-producing part of your brain – when you’re looking to buy a birthday present for your partner/mum/dad/gran/maid, look out for Jessie everywhere.
Jonny Ensall. Out now.