Canada’s Kiesza enjoyed the kind of viral success that’d make a social media guru drool; her one-take choreographed video for Hideaway came out in February, and, thanks to the power of dance, was a mainstream hit on both sides of the Atlantic by the end of the summer. Perhaps as a means to move things on, it’s Hideaway that kickstarts her album, a surprisingly varied collection of tracks held up by her hurricane-force vocals. Although dipping into the warped world of alt-R&B occasionally, her sound is heavily indebted to the 90s – a concoction of Lisa Stansfield, Shakespears Sister and Robin S’s Show Me Love – and it rarely resists going full throttle. In fact, what separates her from the aloof school of nu-soul is her jazz-hands enthusiasm – a high-energy uncoolness. Sound of a Woman is the sound of spinning classes. It’s New Look dressing rooms. It’s Top of the Pops in 1992. It’s not at all bad.
