Dance demands settle in on the latest Jessie Ware single. Teasing continuations from her previous album closer Remember Where You Are, it would appear Pearl is greater even than that. Striking a clear tone on upcoming album That! Feels Good!, Ware pushes through with an adept focus on this dance-pop style that has served her well before, but is better now. Rising and rising, nearly to the moon (and higher still than the liberating pop number Free Yourself), the romance and dance simplicity is a welcome change of pace which allows production and instrumental class to take centre stage. Let’s just dance. A simple message, an effective structure, and perfect mixing.
Essential nu-disco stylings present the bold production steps Ware is taking. They are clear, fun and ready to implode. Brilliance of that variety is dependent on the lyrical Stuart Price-mixed piece. Burning through some innocence and repetition with the opening, Pearls is a quality follow-up to Free Yourself. No wonder they are paired together on the album. If Free Yourself was a call to arms with what to do with the self in the face of independence, then Pearls is what to do once independence is gained. That shared positivity flows through the tight production and essential moves made by Ware on this track. Her lyrics take good form in that pop beat styling and the writing from Ware, Clarence Coffee Jr, Sarah Hudson and Price works well.
A track like this does not need four writers, but four creatives are needed to bring out the intensity and mixing that makes Pearls such a defiant success. Shades of Whitney Houston’s I’m Every Woman flow through the octave shifts and slick musical production on Pearls. Powerhouse party pops and a thumping heartbeat at the core of Pearls shake the pearls off, absolutely, but they also provide a joyous rise that hits back at the Primadonna feel. Tracks like this, if this consistency is hit, push a Mercury Prize nominee into a winning category. Finely-tuned, upbeat chemistries are worked over with a sincere dedication to the feel, groove and hits of Pearls.
As intense as it is liberating, Ware’s new single is a career-best effort. Part of that push comes from the glittering effects, the Price production lending a sound that benefits Ware and this not-so-serious track. Proof once more that fun music can be well-written and still have meaning at its core. Crave the danger, push it ‘till it feels good. Ware sticks that message front and centre and hits a catchy groove that would easily settle well with the very best of those modern Primadonna statements. Murder on the Dancefloor is the bar set all those years ago, and Pearls is on par with that Sophie Ellis-Bextor masterclass. Pearls is a defiant rarity that falls in love with its disco charms and runs them through with clarity and pop-oriented courage. That! Feels Good! gifts itself and listeners with a polite “excuse me” of an introduction before barrelling through with energy, intensity and well-worked focus.
