Cheesy but catchy

“Need your devotion,” repeats Jessie Ware on her debut’s opener and title tune, crawling like Tracy Thorn about to gauze over a Massive Attack beat. Single-note synth and guitar braids wobble around it like a toddler’s mobile. Indie-rockers think this is pop, which is fine; so was Sade. But that should tell you everything about how much the music asserts itself until the caveman drums of “Wildest Moments” boom in. Never again does “Devotion” unspool such a classic melody or forceful chorus like “Baby in our wildest moments/ We could be the worst of all.” That’s because with “Running” we settle back to pawn-shop synths, fake-or-real horns, and cheesy guitar solos. But Ware’s 11 songs do bob and weave with shrewd seduction. She keeps you running.

Dan Weiss – Philadelphia Inquirer