Attempt three for Sophie Jamieson, who debuted back in 2013 with the ep Where and tried again in 2020 with a pair of barely noticed EPs (Hammer and Release). In between, the singer-songwriter from London suffered a nervous breakdown, worked behind the bar of a concert hall and struggled with years of alcohol addiction. Alcohol appears in several songs on this first full-length album on Bella Union.
"What did I do last night?" begins Addition (the title is only one letter different from "addiction"). As if Jamieson has just woken up with - yet another - hangover. In the beautiful Sink, she sings of a bottle of whiskey as both the solution and the cause of her problems, while she accompanies herself on the Tori Amos' piano. All in all, it's not surprising that Choosing, produced by Steph Marziano (Hayley Williams, Odesza, Rhys Lewis) is a pretty dark, but also particularly intimate and intense album. Hopefully, three times is the charm for Sophie Jamieson as well. (RME)more
