Emeli Sande: How should we know (Chrysalis)
Verdict: A rejuvenated talent
Emeli Sande’s fortunes faltered in the years following her big commercial breakthrough.
After singing “Abide With Me” in front of a television audience of 900 million people at the London Olympics and seeing her debut album “Our Version Of Events,” which became the best-seller of 2012, the Scottish singer, then a hydrogen quiff, disappeared wore, out of sight.
A mix of shyness and initial overexposure didn’t help, while she also went through a painful divorce.
But after releasing two disappointing albums in 2016 and 2019 that lacked her usual immediacy, she got back on track last year with Tolle-less “Let’s Say For Instance,” and she comes into her own again on “How Were We To Know.” at its best.
If Let’s Say… found their song of resilience and renewal (and sometimes fell into self-help clichés), their fifth album is unabashedly romantic.
Emeli Sande performs on the third day of the Love Supreme Festival 2023 at Glynde Place in July 2023
Pictured: Emeli Sande performs at Santeria on June 3, 2022 in Milan, Italy
Pictured: Emile Sande poses for a photo at UK Black Pride 2023
It touches on dance, reggae and gospel-inspired soul, and Sande has also rediscovered her talent for writing hummable pop songs.
Before becoming a solo artist, she wrote music for Alesha Dixon, Professor Green and Cheryl Cole and is now proving her mettle as a singer-songwriter.
On “All This Love” she sings of unrequited passion – “You’re a little like me, a little goddamn crazy” – while “My Boy Likes To Party” is a dance banger about the dangers of dating a ne’er-do-well.
She sings beautifully on the dancehall reggae number “Lighthouse” and the gospel singer “Love” showcases her imaginative piano work.
Her willingness to try something new is also evident in There For You, a Whitney Houston-style power ballad with pounding drums, a woozy sax solo and 1980s-inspired synthesizers. The emotions are corny, but the performance is breathtaking.
The album is available today. Emeli Sande plays at London’s Union Chapel on Tuesday.