Self Esteem - Compliments Please

Die erste Vorladung (IX)

Personalien:

Hinter dem Pseudonym Self Esteem steckt die 30-jährige Sängerin Rebecca Lucy Taylor aus Sheffield.

Tathergang:

Gemeinsam mit Charles Watson stand Rebecca Taylor als Slow Club bereits wiederholt hier vor Gericht, jedoch löste sich die Band 2017 nach fünf Alben auf. Nachdem Watson im letzten Jahr mit „Now That I'm A River“ sein Solo-Debüt vorlegte, folgt Taylor nun mit „Compliments Please“.

Plädoyer:

Mit Self Esteem verlässt Rebecca Taylor die Retro-Folkrock-Pfade von Slow Club und wendet sich eindeutig in Richtung Pop, der klar erkennbare Infusionen von Soul, Hip Hop und R’n’B erhält sowie vor Gospel und AutoTune nicht zurückschreckt. Für „Compliments Please“ könnte es Komplimente von Fans von Sia, Beyoncé oder Madonna hageln, wenn diese die ein oder andere Überlänge oder Über-Ambition (16 Songs und Zwischenspiele) außer acht lassen.

Zeugen:

The point I want to hammer in is that Compliments Please delights me more and more with each spin - in part because the tunes are solid, but but also because the heart and the intentions underneath are solid, too. Pop artists don’t have to stick to the same ol’ lovesick schmooze to land a hit, damn it. If we can rewire girls’ heads to value independence and their own ambition with a flourish of sassy strings, then I say let’s hijack the radio and get this party started.
(Drowned In Sound)

Brewing a concoction of high octane, R&B infused pop, tracks such as "Monster" and "Actors" bring an essence of unrestrained glee in both their compositions and Taylor’s soaring and emotive vocal. That aforementioned love of hip hop - most specifically Kanyé West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and inflections of autotune - is entirely palpable on "In Time", pounding beats reinforcing a chanted mantra of assurance amidst gospel euphoria.
(The Line Of Best Fit)

(...) her first record as Self Esteem allows her songwriting skills to flourish in all their flawed glory - at once assertive and vulnerable, her take on pop flirts with high-end glossy sonics but still holds roots in the slow-building atmospherics that fuelled her past work, as well as some leftfield R&B influences. ‘In Time’ has plenty in common with a glory-days Kanye record, and then of course there is opener ‘The Best’ - a fourth-wall breaker that Beyoncé would be proud of, detailing the liberation of going it alone and projecting strength in an industry set against the success of confident women.
(DIY)

This full-frontal approach could become too much, but Taylor balances her forcefulness with elegant and impactful production that veers from bluesy experimentalism to psychedelic soul. She often sings over sparse, clattering drums; on I’m Shy, her calm, hesitant verses are interrupted with snatches of falsetto and synthesised blurts, indicating some unwelcome emotional interruption.
(The Guardian)

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