Voice Notes — its name derived from the phone recordings Lacey made when inspiration struck that went on to be the basis of these songs — is the remarkable debut album from UK singer-songwriter Yasmin Lacey. 

Producer Dave Okumu oversees the construction of a series of dense, hazy, languidly funky audio soundscapes in various styles including soul, jazz, R’n’B, reggae, semi-pop and electronica — often in the same song — deftly blending sampling and programming with instrumentation. 

Lacey meanwhile, is a singer of restraint who rarely, if ever, wails or testifies, wielding her beguiling instrument lightly, preferring to generate intensity via a slinky, sophisticated swing to her delivery and an apparently throwaway, almost casual style. So: a singer with a wonderful voice and delivery, a rich, clever, shifting production aesthetic that references and transcends all sorts of genres and then, making this album a bona fide triple threat, there are the songs themselves: full of gently soaring melodies, enticing little vocal hooks and with an intimate, diaristic feel. 

In an album full of highlights, the beautiful From A Lover is an alluring update of the lovers rock sound, Sea Glass is a soft, poignant celestial jazz-soul lullaby, the switch halfway through Sign And Signal from drifty, narcotic, sweetly-flavoured alt-hop into slick, nocturnal R’n’B is just exquisitely done — there’s beauty and excellence throughout. 

Exquisitely curated sonics matched with a true vocal and songwriting talent, Voice Notes genuinely sounds like a classic.