An extraordinary debut from a rising young talent and unique voice.

People following their own creative passions can be a wonderful thing. There will always be the trend chasers and the bandwagon hoppers and some of them can be quite good. It doesn’t compare to the person who says, ‘I’m just going to be me and see who comes along to check it out.’ Jojo Orme is not a typical 26-year-old. Many are trying to claim her for the goths, she does have something of the style in how she dresses and presents her work. She certainly admires gothic stylings and aesthetics and admits to the influences. However, her burning obsession and passion seems to be aircraft of the Second World War. She volunteers regular at the RAF Museum in London and many tracks link into that passion, most notably ‘Extraordinary Wings’ and ‘Warplane’ on this album. It is far removed from the dirge of the getting drunk and going to parties’ noise that fills a good chunk of the charts each week.

‘Just To Ask A Dance’, the first proper track on the album is a strong opening gambit. The synths briefly make you think of Stranger Things before a propulsive percussive beat kicks in, followed by a string section. It is a bold, brilliant opener. ‘Jacked’ follows, one of the known quantities and still just as excellent as when it was first released. The intro builds for a minute and a half before Orme bring in the vocals. It is familiar, yet entirely of its own.

‘Extraordinary Wings’ has almost industrial percussion, a slightly Portishead style groove overlaid. Her vocals are clear and sharp, beautifully understated. ‘Warplane’ speeds up the beat before delivering a chorus like nothing else in the charts right now. Of the unreleased material ‘Smugglers Adventure’ stands out as a six-minute journey that builds and builds in some style. There are no weak links here. If I can level a criticism, it is just that at eight proper tracks it is all too fleeting. A few of the earlier singles would probably have filled it out quite nicely, however fair play for not wanting to repeat earlier glories.

This is an impressively strong debut that hints at an incredibly bright future.