Jessie Ware – Tough Love (Universal/Island)

Jessie Ware – Tough Love (Universal/Island)

When Jessie Ware debuted with Devotion two years ago, her music was pure understated simmer. Much of Tough Love maintained and even improved upon that aesthetic: the scintillating title track, the suave “Sweetest Song,” the sweaty Miguel bass flirtation “Kind Of… Sometimes… Maybe.” Elsewhere the album went full Adele, and never better than on “Say You Love Me,” a show-stopping torch song that proves Ware can be just as alluring when she lets it all hang out. Everything between those poles, from the Dev Hynes disco excursion “Want Your Feeling” to the surging synth-pop anthem “You & I (Forever),” was pretty sweet too. –Chris [LISTEN]