JORJA SMITH… THE RISE CONTINUES

A lot has been happening over the last couple months for the lovely Jorja Smith who has fast become a household name. The talented singer, who’s journey is going nowhere but up, has been a favourite here at Busk since the release of earlier projects such as her Project 11 EP. With a lot going on in the life of Jorja Smith, and the release of her debut album earlier this year, we thought we’d catch up on Jorja’s journey so far.

Since last year, when we last checked in with Jorja, she has undoubtedly broken into the mainstream; hitting the airwaves with some incredible music and seeing a lot of critical acclaim and recognition for her work. As of 2018, following on from the release of her hit single Beautiful Little Fools in March 2017, Jorja has focused this year on blessing our ears with some new music as she released her biggest project to date – her debut album Lost & Found. Describing the album’s title Lost & Found as reflecting her experience living in the city and navigating life in the big world, Jorja released the 12 track album on June 8th this year. Quickly receiving a large amount of critical acclaim, Jorja’s quintessential, jazz-infused, R&B vibe; along with her smooth, sultry, Amy Winehouse-esque vocals, had many people reaching for the loop button this summer.

Kicking off the album back in 2016 with the release of her first single Blue Lights, followed by several other tracks including Where Did I Go? and Teenage Fantasy; this album has been a long time in the making. And has certainly been worth the wait. Lost & Found, which peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Charts, not only delivers outstanding lyrical and musical content; but works as a coherent album to deliver and tell a true narrative through Smith’s classically trained vocals. Moving through the album, we see Jorja detail the progression of a single relationship, and her experience in both losing and finding herself in the process.

Jorja begins the album by detailing her experience falling in love for the first time in Teenage Fantasy. This is followed up by her contemplating the end, and break-down, of her relationship and how she seemed to lose herself within the relationship on the next track Where Did I Go?. In following songs such as On Your Own and The One, Jorja goes back and forth, contemplating who is to blame in the breakdown of the relationship, and her conflicting feelings about love. We then see Smith depart from the underlying theme of love when we get to Blue Lights, reflecting Jorja’s own need to take a break from affairs of the heart, and we see her delve into more political content in this grittier and more rap influenced track. In the final tracks Tomorrow and Don’t Watch Me Cry, we see Jorja having returned to the main theme of love and, while incorporating a more explicit subtext of loss, we see Jorja still trying to find herself. While also having come to terms with what happened in her ex-relationship and her part to play in its end.

In terms of what’s next for Jorja, she has just spent the last couple of months on her Lost and Found Tour which began in July, and she has more performances lined up over the next couple of months. So if you are able to grab some tickets before they have all sold out, definitely see if you can go and hear Jorja’s incredible vocals live. And if not, still make sure to give her debut album Lost & Found and listen, which will no doubt leave you feeling some type of way.

Jorja’s Socials: