Reflective yet forward-looking, Glasshouse was largely shaped by the 2016 birth of Ware’s first child, and by the sometimes-painful soul-searching that marked that transformative moment in her life. “It became an album for my husband and my baby,” says Ware. "It’s an apology, a confession, a love note, a declaration…It shows all my fears and all of my emotion."
With its sonic palette encompassing everything from jazz improvisations to hypnotic house beats, Glasshouse expands on the genre-blurring sophistication that Ware’s embodied since the 2012 release of Devotion. Mainly recorded with her longtime friend Benny Blanco (Halsey, Icona Pop, Charli XCX), the album also finds her pairing up with producers like Norwegian DJ and Kanye West collaborator Cashmere Cat and sculpting a dynamic new sound while still mining her classic sensibilities.
Throughout Glasshouse, Ware embraces an emotional honesty that has much to do with the intimacy of her songwriting process an undertaking that included reuniting with several beloved collaborators, such as singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. Beginning from the first session, Ware made her artistic intentions crystal-clear to her co-writers. "I said, ‘Listen, I don’t want to do a pop thing," she recounts. "I want do a track that makes people feel something let’s not try and write for radio." With that agenda in mind, Ware dedicated herself to dreaming up a collection of emotionally raw songs that prove unmistakably true to her distinct impulses as a songwriter.
In its tender but candid exploration of family life, Glasshouse marks a major thematic departure from Tough Love (an album praised by Pitchfork for “exuding the type of smoldering desire that borders just slightly on desperation, moving into the territory of real, messy love”). While its predecessor saw Ware illuminating the pain of unrequited love and cleansing herself of demons from her past, the new album gives a nuanced glimpse into the beauty and struggle of commitment and enduring romance.
On lead single "Midnight," for instance, Ware meditates on the challenges of maintaining a relationship through the most difficult times. The song instills visceral anger into its narrator’s unapologetic fight for a relationship. On the breathtaking ballad "Alone" (co-written with Kid Harpoon, who’s also penned tracks for HAIM and Florence + the Machine), Glasshouse delivers an impassioned ode to finding the time to be with your loved ones. Meanwhile, on the studio version of fan favorite "True Believers," Ware offers a serenade steeped in soulful complexity. "It was a song for Sam, my husband, about escaping this weird world," Ware points out.
Though Glasshouse bears its share of weighty material, Ware endlessly brightens the album with her inventive approach to melody and texture and rhythm. To that end, "Your Domino" hits hard as an undeniably dance-floor-ready number, while "Selfish Love" a seductive tale of warring lovers co-written with Benny Blanco and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder serves as a smooth and sultry homage to ’60s bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto. And on the unstoppable closing track "Sam," Ware joins forces with Ed Sheeran as well as a host of world-renowned musicians, including bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Chris Dave, and trumpet player Nico Segal.
From track to track, Ware deepens the intensity of Glasshouse with the powerful vocal presence she first revealed in emerging onto the UK scene. After years of purposely sidestepping the spotlight—and providing vocals for pioneering electronic artists like SBTRKT and Joker—the South London native shifted direction and set to work on her full-length debut. Despite being recorded with very little fanfare, in remarkably low-key sessions helmed by Dave Okumu of English neo-soul band The Invisible, Devotion went on to become one of the most critically lauded albums of 2012. With Tough Love arriving in 2014, both albums are now gold-certified in Ware’s home country.
In creating her third full-length, Ware found herself realigned with the passion that first sparked her songwriting. "I played Benny some of the stuff I’d written before, and he said, ‘What were you doing? Where did you go? Why aren’t you doing what you were doing on Devotion? Go back to that old sound, that’s what makes you so great." By reclaiming the unabashed spirit of her earlier work and infusing her songwriting with a newfound sense of purpose she ultimately solidified her vision for Glasshouse and all its heartfelt splendor.
Jessie Ware “Glass House” eAlbum Pre-Order + ‘Alone’ IG Track
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