WHEN it came to SFTW’s album of 2023, one stood out as the perfect response to the year.
Jessie Ware’s fifth record was an album we all needed. Joyous, anthemic disco as elegant and classy as the lady herself.
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“It’s very nice for you guys to give me the top spot,” says a chuffed Jessie from her London home.
“It’s a nice cherry on the top. I don’t do this for the critical acclaim — I do it for my fans, but that doesn’t mean a bit of acclaim doesn’t feel very nice.”
Jessie was “excited” by the music she was making when she started That! Feels Good!
“Whenever you’re making a record, you are in your own world. I thought it was good but I wanted to know what everyone else thought,” she says.
“Then when people embraced it so much, it was incredible. The critical acclaim and how the fans loved it was amazing.
“Tracks including Free Yourself, Begin Again, Pearls and the title track all make That! Feels Good! seem like you’re on the best night out.
“I’m a mum of three and my clubbing days are not as frequent as they used to be. So, what I do is try to create a club on stage that I get to go to every night and also leave at a reasonable hour — it’s working perfectly for me.
“Begin Again was the first track we made for the album and it was over the internet on Zoom. It was a pain in the ass,” she admits.
“However, there was something there and I wanted to pick up where I left off with Remember Where You Are (the album closer for What’s Your Pleasure?).
“I wanted to feel like I was singing in the sun in Brazil, because it was miserable January or February in lockdown. I longed for this escapism.
‘It brought me back to where I started in music’
“This was the first session and it felt good. It was a great start. Then we had Free Yourself and that was pretty much the moment where I went for a tequila with coffee. That track really changed things for me.”
With a strong following from the LGBTQ community, Jessie takes pride on how diverse her crowds are.
She says: “The queer community has been incredibly good for me and I adore being so welcomed by them.
“One of the highlights of my year was playing Homobloc (queer night at Depot Mayfield) in Manchester. It was unbelievable. It was a new thing for me to do as I was doing a PA — which is just me, a DJ, and beautiful Homobloc dancers on stage.
“We had so much fun, and it brought me back to where I kind of started in music, which was being a dance vocalist, on the mic running around like a lunatic and trying to keep people dancing.
“I loved it and I love that I’m able to be in a beautiful, queer space like that where I get to rock up with a DJ and put on incredibly theatrical kind of Cabaret-esque shows.
“I feel so grateful. I have such a broad scope of fans,” she tells me. “If anybody came to my show, you’ll see the queer community there in abundance.
3And you’ll also see mums, daughters and sons coming maybe because they listen to the podcast (Table Manners that Jessie hosts with her mum Lennie).
“There’s an intergenerational quality to it too, which I love. For me, everyone’s welcome at my shows. And you’re DEFINITELY going to have a good time.”
Jessie is not long back from Australia where she played shows and festivals for the first time in more than a decade.
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Now taking a well deserved break from performing, she says: “I’m really gutted I’m not on tour for a while now.
“But I’m really happy to get ahead with my gravy — I’m making Jamie Oliver’s ‘get-ahead gravy’ for Christmas dinner. That is my plan for today. Let me just say night night to my son. I’m doing like ten things at the same time.”
Jessie is the master of juggling motherhood with music and admits it’s tough. She explains: “My husband has been taking a lot for the team and I haven’t got the balance right yet – maybe one day, but by that point, it will probably be too late.
“My kids only travel with me if they are on half term, so it’s hard and when I’m home I wear the mum hat and I’m on the school runs.”
But even with having a lot on her plate at home, Jessie says: “I’ve had so many things to celebrate this year. Getting to Australia and selling out London’s Ally Pally twice.”
That! Feels Good! earned her a second Mercury Prize nomination after her previous nod in 2012 for album Devotion.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about the Mercury,” she laughs. “It’s really cool. I was so thrilled for Ezra Collective when they won. And you get a prize anyway, a trophy so you kind of feel like you’ve won too.
“And it was such a great atmosphere and it’s hugely respected so I loved it.”
Jessie joined forces with James Ford for the record — who she also worked with on What’s Your Pleasure? and her 2014 album Tough Love — as well as Stuart Price, who is known for his work with Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor in 2005 as well as Kylie Minogue’s 2010s Aphrodite, The Killers and Pet Shop Boys.
“James and Stuart are sublime,” she says. “I’ve done the past few records with James, and we’ve worked together for over a decade now on and off,
“I love him. And I think we complement each other so, so much. And then Stuart was this new person that obviously has this reputation and is fantastic.
Stuart is on tour with Madonna at the moment, musical-directing The Celebration Tour.
‘The podcast is a beast but I love it’
Jessie says: “When I worked with him, I felt like we were naughty school kids trying to be as over the top as possible.
“We’d look at each other, and giggle and have our hands in the air with songs. We were onto a winner as soon as we started work, so he’s welcome in my band any time.”
Another high point for the singer was working with Kylie again after the two had collaborated on the single Kiss Of Life in 2021.
The album title track features the Aussie star and the pair teamed up to play BBC’s Radio 2 in the Park in Leicester earlier this year.
She says: “I’ve definitely inherited a few fans from Kylie. And Kylie’s an absolute pro. I’m excited that she’s doing a Las Vegas residency. And her ITV An Audience With (shown last weekend) looked like the best party ever. So yeah, Kylie is an inspiration and she’s also a really nice human being.”
Jessie’s enjoying a few weeks break before launcing into album No6 in the new year.
“I’m starting a new record,” she says proudly. “I will be in a studio from January and I’m very excited.
“There will be a lot of touring and festivals in the summer, maybe I’ll have some new music out then too.
“And the podcast carries on. It’s just a beast but I love it though it’s an absolute bugger to balance. But we’ve had Miriam Margolyes, Cher and Princess Eugenie who were all fantastic.
“Looking back I’ve done quite a lot in 2023. It’s been an amazing year and I feel really satisfied.
“I’m thrilled by it all to be honest. And now I feel like I’m able to give myself a bit of a rest.”
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