Little Simz - No Thank You Review
Please don't take my kindness for a weakness
Little Simz last graced our presence in 2021 with her "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert" album. If people hadn't heard of her before then, the adoration and adulations she received after that album certainly made people sit up and pay attention. That album won nominations and awards, from the Brit Nomination for Best British Album of the Year, MOBO Awards Album of the Year 2022, Libera Awards Best Hip-Hop/Rap Record winner 2022 and finally the Mercury Prize for Album of the Year, for which I personally tuned in to see if she'd done it. I was lucky enough to see her set at Primavera 2022 in Barcelona, Spain - If the crowd there weren't convinced when they rocked up, they certainly were after they saw her. 14 songs, no break, all with the energy of an artist with 10 years more experience behind them.
Her 5th Studio Album, "NO THANK YOU" was announced and released within a week, releasing on the 12th of December, 2022 with a ten-minute short film to accompany. Produced by Inflo (the driver behind Sault) as were her previous two albums, it's a short-and sweet 50 minute, 10 track album.
Why you wanna make a mockery of my pain?
Never one to shy away from using her real-life experiences and calling out doubters and critics, Angel begins the album by calling out Capitalism, Corporations and even the British Royal Family. She's not playing the game that was set out in front of her, and she's letting us know in her trademark way, with clear, quick lyrics and soulful backing vocals brought by Cleo Sol.
Gorilla, using a sample from Ramsey Lewis's Summer Breeze previously used at the end of Jurassic 5's Concrete Schoolyard, keeps up the pressure. There's not a space to breathe and contemplate any lines, as the gaps between verses are filled with a delightful cacophony of brass, stopping abruptly with a silence that leaves you almost as exhausted as she would be. A warning to lovers, past and potential that she's come out swinging, she's not taking any shit and she's not going to hold back. As she says, she's an introvert but she's not timid. You WILL understand what she's brought us so far, and what she's going to keep bringing us.
Right now, this ain't music one overlooks
The fifth track, X, plays like a Bond Theme in parts. Blasting strings and crescendos lead to a soulful lamenting voice with a choral backing singing to God. Religion plays a large part of her lyrics - though she has not come out as a follower of any religion, it's clear that it has a part in her life. The song titles Angel, X, No Merci and the iconography of Heart on Fire are a clear signal that she understands her way around the subject, as the more religious lyrics never seem out of place. Truly everything that Little Simz says is from a definitive place of honesty and truth, and Heart on Fire takes us into the second half of the album with no drop in that intensity that we saw in Angel and Gorilla.
"Broken" has a distinctly British Hip-Hop feel to it, the chord progression feeling like a tribute to Roots Manuva's 2005 track "Colossal Insight". This third side has a lighter, airer feel. "Broken" in particular ending with a glorious wave of strings, before you turn over to the final side and get whacked with "Sideways", the samples immediately reinvigorating and Little Simz once again faces you with lyrics you can't overlook about God, the Devil and never moving sideways, only forwards.
I still thought of "Sometimes I Might Be Extravert" as Little Simz' new album, and a release just a year later took me by surprise, but there's no lack of quality for the time it took to come to us, and the fact that she was touring all last summer. It's all the more surprise that there was no hint, no idea and such a fully-formed album came out of 2022. This should be an immediate add to your collection and an instant Sunny Sunday decision.
Album Details
No Thank You by Little Simz was released on 12th December 2022 and comes on Clear Vinyl and Orange and Yellow Vinyl which are both available for Pre-order, releasing on the 16th of June 2023
Little Simz - No Thank You Tracklist:
- Angel
- Gorilla
- Silhouette
- No Merci
- X
- Heart On Fire
- Broken
- Sideways
- Who Even Cares
- Control
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"Heart's on fire, bought the dream with еvery penny that I acquired
It's a sеt-up and you'll be next up to those prior
Devil works hard, but the business works harder
I vowed from now to work smarter"
It's a sеt-up and you'll be next up to those prior
Devil works hard, but the business works harder
I vowed from now to work smarter"
- Heart on Fire
