“A step into womanhood”, an album of “self-realisation”. Falling or Flying’s hometown production creates a genre-bending project, shattering Jorja Smith’s musical boundaries.
Much has changed since the release of Jorja Smith’s debut album Lost and Found in 2018. Not only has Smith herself developed from a breakout teen artist to an established woman in the music industry, she has also gained international recognition through appearances on Drake’s ‘Jorja Interlude’ and ‘I am’ from the Black Panther soundtrack. Therefore, the spotlight was shining brightly on Smith heading into her second release.
Now in her 20s, Smith’s sound has adapted to reflect her age. Her sophomore project Falling or Flying shows no signs of playing into algorithms or scraping for popularity, nor does it display nervousness at the album’s huge expectations.
In preparation for the album’s release Smith returned to her hometown of Walsall, which she described in a recent interview with Jules Boyle as a place where she feels a lot more like herself. She believes that with the help of all-female producer duo Damdam this album has brought her home during her transition into adult life.
‘Try Me’ opens the album with a sense of strength and defiance. It provides the listener with a poignant start, suggesting that Smith has not changed, only now she is never satisfied in her pursuit of perfection in relationships and music.
The expressiveness of the project certainly reflects that as she sticks to her impressive vocal range on songs like ‘what if my heart beats faster?’ and turns to an upbeat 2000s garage sound on ‘little things’, one of the songs of the summer. In the lyrics, she explores the desire for quick highs and the enjoyment of being young and sexually liberated whilst rhythmically boogying at the night club. Definitely one to get you on the dancefloor. After peaking at number 11 on the UK charts, ‘little things’ earnt a remix from up and coming garage artist Nia Archives and an iconic version mixed with ‘gypsy woman (she’s homeless)’.
Much of the album delves into Smith’s perseverance regarding her relationship with fame. ‘Ask me about me again’ demonstrates her willingness to be secretive whilst threatening you to find out more about her personal life.
Another impressive moment from the album is ‘Feelings’ featuring J Hus, which explores a more afrobeat sound. The song marks an iconic collaboration between two of the frontrunners in the UK music scene. Hus’ hook and verse delve into an unexplored topic for the Stratford-born artist. Stating “a badman still needs a cuddle” to highlight the emotionality of the track, giving him some more untapped depth.
‘Go Go Go’ presents yet another genre with a pop-funk style to the track, likened to songs by Olivia Rodrigo. On the track, she threatens her future partners: leave, before she makes you!
With ballads like ‘Try and fit in’ and the piano melody of the closing tune ‘what if my heart beats faster?’, the longest track on the album, Smith returns to tracks that would not be out of place on Lost and Found. Both provide us with the downtempo, emotional depth of Jorja Smith that we are used to. Very powerful songs but contrasting to the speed of the rest of the album which looks to delve into several different uptempo sounds.
The entirety of the project merges these separate genres to create a much more adventurous sound than we have heard before. Her versatility is a statement on this project, something she made clear that she wanted to achieve in the build-up to its release.
Although not perfect by any means, the experimentation of Falling or Flying proves to be a priceless insight into the ability of Jorja Smith as an artist. She is not afraid to bend, shift and change the genres that originally confined her and will hopefully sharpen the delivery on her next project.
7/10
