There is so, so much happening on Jae Stephens’ debut album Audacity. Thankfully, it seems like mess is her medium. Although the 29-year-old Dallas native is often sold as a big voice – and she undoubtedly does have a big voice – her debut album has more in common with hyperactive, magnetic records such as PinkPantheress’s Fancy That or Salute’s True Magic: recent albums whose need for speed and sweetly toned maximalism fostered an irrepressible sense of personality.
Stephens is an apt case study of a career in the contemporary pop industry: she started writing, producing and performing alone in her room, and dropped a whopping five EPs in the seven years before Audacity’s release. She has written with a host of pop also-rans and, inexplicably, hosts a music interview podcast. But listening to Audacity forces me into that age-old cliche: why isn’t this artist a bigger star?
Opener Crush is simultaneously loud and minimal, hypnotic in its rhythm but melodically aloof and laid-back. No One Knows My Name and Attaboy! feel like classic 2000s R&B tracks played at double speed during the best DJ set ever. But even when Stephens slows down a little, as on I Miss the City, she refuses to let things get too by-the-book, layering bounce hi-hats over her frustrated, yearning lyrics as the song crests. The whole record is bonkers and, for once in pop, makes good on its title. It’s the sound of an artist finally getting her shot, and refusing to squander it.
