Family Average: 6/7

We are getting all kinds of high quality up in here. I don’t know if you noticed, but that is one of the higher scores I have seen in quite some time. It would appear that the family has a sort of fondness for soul music performed by Yazmin Lacey. Then again why did they like it? Did they honestly like it? Maybe their answers are all sarcastic and this is an huge ruse. Maybe only one person reviewed it and they liked it a lot. You will never know until you move that scroller down south.

Listen along on Their Bandcamp and read on to find out:

I am going to need to think for a bit on this one. Okay done yeah I like it a lot. The problem is though I feel a bit out of my depth making comments on what I felt, but then again that's the whole point of this blog. I don’t know anything and neither do any of these other jokers on this website. The whole album felt like a super mellow version of all my favorite crime thriller movies from the 70’s. It just made this whole little world appear in my mind. I would not mind living there. It is warm, but a little somber. A place where it is permanently seven thirty in the afternoon on a summer day. I am also wearing sweatpants in this world. That is a key part, because I am so comfortable from end to end on this album. A lot of it comes from the vocals, and the percussion. When that stick hits the rim it is so darn crisp I can not get enough. Pair that with Yazmin’s voice and you got one winning combo.

6/7  

Finally!  Well thought out tracks, beautiful vocals. Reminiscent of Lauren Hill or maybe even Mary J. Blige. She shows depth and range with each track.  R and B, or Jazz with just enough soul to make it interesting. I can definitely see me listening to this in the car or on my train ride to the city.  "Rise & Burn" is a track that makes you feel like you walked into a cool jazz club . The vocals flow effortlessly and perfectly accompany the music. The piano was especially strong on this track. I would like to see her in person in a club for sure. I give her a

5/7

This album nicely blends cool jazz with a more up-tempo contemporary vocal style. Very relaxing, I would like to have this as dinner music and finish off the meal with a warm brandy and a cigar. Alternatively, you could be sitting in a swanky piano bar, where the bartender knows your name and will shake you a ice cold martini and put on some Yazmin Lacey. The opening track was my favorite but all of the tracks had an even flow to them creating a very tranquil composition. Hats off to Yazmin for creating a cool jazz sound that sets a definite mood.

6/7   

This whole album feels nice. Got a smooth jazz vibe with a bit of blues mixed in. The singer’s got a great voice, she’s found her range and she’s owning it. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical from the first song “90 Degrees.” It got a bit to repetitive for my tastes (how many times can you repeat “lalalala”), but I got no complaints like that for the rest of the songs. It might just be that they go on for a while cause jazz is like that. “Something My Heart Trusts” veers into more bluesy territory. The slight strums of the guitar and the subtle cymbal and percussion got my toe tappin. A lot of the songs had that quality to them and it made for a rather pleasant experience. “Burn and Rise” is subtly different from the prior one, just enough that it’s a new experience. “Heaven” is probably the most mellow of the album, it sounds open but full at the same time somehow. I guess cause it knows when to introduce and remove musical accompaniments. At least until the end, that part got kinda hectic with a bunch of stuff being thrown in. I think there’s also some bird chirps? There’s definitely some in the last one, “Body Needs Healing.” I found myself focusing more on the music and vocals than actually comprehending the lyrics, but I can catch some sentences here and there.
This is a wonderful album if you’re in the mood for some jazz and ambiance.

6/7

You know how some singers just have this sort of palpable energy? Like they radiate some sort of power that just turns everything to gold. Well, Yazmin Lacey has got this power in spades. This album was just such a sweet respite and pleasure. People may draw comparison to Amy Winehouse for that soulful and jazzy sound, but Lacey is undoubtedly carving out her own place in the world. A full band supports her energized and blissed out voice with some old school soul, hip-hop, and jazz sounds mixed in. Is new soul a thing? (Or is it nu-soul? I could feel every *soul* musician turning in their grave as I wrote that. Sorry.) Regardless, it’s got a sultry, relaxed quality, with delicate but powerful vocals. She’s got that melodic sort of mumble on lock. It’s really gorgeous, and while the lyrics don’t take too deep of an emotional dive, they are still incredibly poignant and prose-like. This is the winner of the week for me. What a beauty.

6/7