As the musical alter-ego of Game of Thrones actor Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), the innumerable delays to Raleigh Ritchie’s debut are reflected in the six producers (everyone from Kendrick Lamar’s Sounwave to Drake collaborator DJ Dahi), and the album’s depiction as a rite of passage. If the problematic gestation means the mix of soul, R&B, electronica and cinematic orchestral sweeps can occasionally feel a trifle uneven, the Bristolian’s emotional deliveries bring a compelling vulnerability and humanity to the narrative-verse-to-big-chorus format. Frets, fears, ambitions, love, insecurities, depression and even suicidal urges are addressed with telling candour and occasionally, humour (rhyming “council” with “downfall”.) The title track’s comparison of childhood dreams with adult realities (“I was an astronaut, once upon a time. I’m not growing up. I’m ageing”) is beautifully moving. Never Better’s tale of a therapist forgetting Anderson’s name is based on a real incident from his youth, although the person in question shouldn’t fail to remember his former client from now on.
