While many had a difficult 2020, for Celeste it was the year where she burst onto the scene. “Stop This Flame” has already been heard on countless adverts, including being the theme song for Sky Sports Premier League. If you don’t know her name yet, you’re probably already aware of her voice as her song “A Little Love” was also featured on an advert, this time for John Lewis.
Both of those songs are on her debut albums “Not Your Muse” which came out at the end of January. It’s hard to not love the album on the sheer weight of her voice alone. It’s powerful and unique in its own right.
The album opens with “Ideal Woman” which is a sultry number but never really takes off. That leads onto “Strange” which is one of the standout tracks from the album and takes you on a melancholy journey, with Celeste’s smoky vocals enticing you to live her pain.
“Tonight Tonight” is the first up tempo track on the album with verses that roll along with the excellent lyrical flow, backed up by a brilliant drum track. The chorus doesn’t quite live up to that quality but it’s still an enjoyable song.
That leads us onto “Stop This Flame” which is simply pop perfection, with the funky piano, euphoric vocals and brilliant production. It’s a high point for the album, especially considering that the rest of album mostly passes you by.
Those vocals can’t rescue what are fairly middle of the road songs. “A Kiss” is a good example where an amazing voice meets an average song. They have their moments but are not the types of tunes you’ll be going back to in years to come.
The end result is an album that’s an enjoyable but with only a few standout tracks. It’s a good album but not the great album I was hoping it could be.