Algebra Blessett: Recovery – review

It's been some years since neo-soul was briefly fashionable, but the low-key way in which the genre's finest current exponents quietly go about their craft feels apt. Atlanta's Algebra Blessett, like former Groove Theory singer Amel Larrieux and Prince proteges King, takes her time in making her music – and it shows. Recovery is the follow-up to a debut released nearly half a decade ago, but it's a poised and unhurried work on which every crisp detail has been thought through. Blessett has a knack for framing her sundry musings with just the right arrangements. The retro moves of Nobody But You, all plinking piano and faux-crackling, belie a tension between what the narrator feels and how she behaves; Danger Zone's elegant bassline mirrors the enticement of its words. Blessett herself is a light, airy presence who darts nimbly over her songs – but if sleepy reverence isn't her thing, neither is she so wispy that she dissolves into the production. And when she needs drama, she's ready to bring it with crashing percussion on Forever.