Jess Glynne, I Cry When I Laugh - Album review

Download: Give Me Something; Hold My Hand; Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself

Her recent chart-topper “Hold My Hand” provides a fairly accurate template for Glynne’s debut album, as regards both methods and themes.

It’s a record of heartbreak cauterised by hope, so alongside the routine tears and recrimination is a recurrent element of recovery and optimism that sets it apart from most other soul-diva offerings. “Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself” could be the project’s mission statement, with Glynne’s darkly tremulous delivery a kind of turbo-powered warble that conveys strength overcoming tribulation, a message under-scored by the rising figure of the backing vocals. T

he Clean Bandit collaboration “Real Love” is a routine follow-up to their earlier hit “Rather Be”. Elsewhere, Emeli Sandé adds sprinkles to “Saddest Vanilla”, perhaps the only song ever written about getting dumped over a cornet. Ninety-nine tears, presumably.