Jorja Smith: Lost & Found [FAMM]

Why you'll love it

This FAMM pressing comes in a gatefold jacket, pressed in the EU. Lost & Found debuted at No. 3 in the UK and No. 1 on the UK R&B chart, and it was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

In 2015, at 18, Jorja Smith moved to London to live with her aunt and uncle, working as a Starbucks barista and singing ideas into voice notes on her phone during breaks. Ladbroke Grove gave her the title: she felt lost, yet exactly where she wanted to be. The album isn't a concept piece; it collects songs she wrote between the ages of 16 and 21.

"Blue Lights," inspired by her college research into racial discrimination and built on a Dizzee Rascal sample, went up on SoundCloud in early 2016 and caught the ear of Stormzy and Skrillex; by 2017 she was singing on Drake's More Life. Producers including Jeff Kleinman, Michael Uzowuru, Tom Misch and Maaike Lebbing give the songs a light, jazzy touch, and her voice carries the rest. "Teenage Fantasy" glows, "Where Did I Go?" and "February 3rd" became singles, "Lifeboats (Freestyle)" shows her sharp side, and "The One," written with Joel Compass, is about meeting the right person at the wrong time.

Exclaim! called it a solid start, and Metacritic scored it 81 from 16 reviews. Not bad for an album sketched on a phone between coffee orders; we've tried the same thing on our breaks and mostly ended up with shopping lists.

Also at Kops: more Jorja Smith on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On FAMM (cat# JSLAFLP01), the 2018 album.