loraine james – building something beautiful for me

Among her remarkable qualities, Loraine James has added prolificacy. Her first full-length project of the year, Whatever the Weather, emphasised a profound respect for tone and sensation. This follow-up, arriving as the beauty of WTW has been digested, is a work of parallel depth, but the focus has shifted from the process of an album, to its historical context and the hurdles it chooses to leap over. BSBFM is kinetic in its twitching thoughts and unprejudiced in the textures that it conjures. Her vocal work cannot connect to the materials with the same vibrance, but, drawing on Julius Eastman, one of Britain’s most capable producers remains exactly that.

23/30

A favourite: ‘Enfield, Always’ 

‘Building Something Beautiful For Me’ is out now via Phantom Limb.