Always in Between (Deluxe)

After the phenomenal success of her debut, I Cry When I Laugh, expectations were high for Jess Glynne. So she escaped to the relative seclusion of the Sussex countryside to write this follow-up with some handpicked collaborators. “I don't want to feel like I'm in any sort of space that's got any pressure,” she told Beats 1. “In that moment, I was the best version of me writing and making music. The mindset was very similar to the first record—without the pressure. It was just: Make music with people and have fun.”
That sense of fun and freedom runs through this songbook of feel-good anthems. Her soulful vocals soar over trumpets on buoyant “123” and swagger onto dance floor-filler “All I Am.” There are moments of reflection too: The confessional “Thursday,” cowritten with Ed Sheeran, confronts her insecurities on a journey to self-acceptance, with the Londoner declaring, “So I won’t wear makeup on Thursday/’Cause who I am is enough.”