On Sep. 29, the talented Jorja Smith released her second studio album, falling or flying, a follow up to her 2021 debut studio album, Be Right Back.
Earlier this year, Smith moved back to her hometown of Walsall in England after living in London, where she first began to create music. Soon after returning home, she began working on falling or flying, releasing a single on Apr. 13, titled Try Me, which happens to be the opening track. According to Clash, Smith says that this song is about “Putting yourself out there, in front of a world that has many opinions as it only ever used to be me really being my own critic”. I think this is an interesting story to base a song off of, since it’s something that you don’t really hear about often, even though it’s important to think about.
This album is filled with many diverse tracks with a laundry list of different sounds and instruments. My favorite song by far is definitely Little Things, an upbeat song I feel like I’d hear walking into a party, and that seems like that’s exactly the vibe Smith was going for, with the lyrics: “I didn’t know that you’d be here tonight//Saw you again, think this must be a sign//Nothing you said, it was all in your eyes// Oh can I get close, even for just one time”. Throughout the entire song she mentions how it’s the little things that can get her “high”, referring to the way that the way this person makes her feel is as if she’s high. Even saying that “Just the little things that get me high and keep me going//Just a little bit of you and I, nobody knows it”, Where she seems to be mentioning that she’s pursuing a secret relationship with this person as well.
The most experimental track that is included in this album is GO GO GO, which according to Genius, is inspired by the pop-rock bands that Jorja once had love for throughout her teenage years like Bombay Bicycle Club, Jaws, and The Kooks. The song begins with a strong guitar and nearly twenty-five songs in, adds an accommodating drum, which makes it simple to ease into the vibe of the song, which stands as a big slap in the face to a romantic interest who can’t maintain a long term relationship.
On a bit of the sadder side of this album, we have What if my heart beats faster, Which closes out the album for us. Jorja brings a sad, more somber beat, discussing how she is having difficulties trying to open up and how she has trouble figuring out the other person in this situationship that she’s involved herself in, feeling bad for many different reasons, Jorja explains with the lyrics “If I ever find//My heart beat faster, oh//I could love for miles//And still not open up, oh//I should call this off//Knowin’ that I’ll never feel how they could”. This song was a really bittersweet end to this album, sad but very meaningful.
Overall, I enjoyed this album, and once I pressed play I never had to pause, I had never really listened to Jorja Smith but this gave me a reason to, and I’m sure it will give you a reason why as well.
