Tough Love

Pensive, silken R&B. [24 Oct 2014, p.63]

Gorgeous minimalist songs are punctuated by Prince-like synths and Ware's impressive vocal range. [Nov 2014, p.102]

All in all, Ware has gone the correct route with Tough Love.

These radio-ready confections teem with smart hooks and fuller choruses.

Tough Love is a tour de force album, one that nails heartache with sophistication and class.

She imparts yearning with such controlled restraint and lightness of touch it’s sublime.

For the most part, it is an assured collection of songs that exudes the confidence of an artist at the peak of her powers.

Actually listen to Tough Love and you’ll realise that Ware has made a record that is totally ready for chart success, should her label promote it accordingly, but also deeper and more thoughtfully-considered than any British pop album that lingers in recent memory; the fact that it seems so reserved is nothing more than an indicator of Ware’s confidence in the potency of its sensuality.

A genuinely superior slice of small hours electro-pop.

It’s not an album that fights for your attention, but one that knows it doesn’t have to try.

It’s this confidence that really shines throughout the album. Ware’s vocals are at the forefront, no longer hidden amongst a cloud of heavy electronics.

Tough Love is an album that reveals itself gradually, reducing this ever-beguiling artist down to her essence, while offering ample opportunity for her to develop her technique.

Where Devotion contained only three or four songs with big, traditional choruses, Tough Love is built on them.

You get the sense that pretty much any style could be Ware’s if she commits to it, but for now it’s nice to hear her explore a level of sophistication as her star continues to rise.

For all its vulnerability, Tough Love is tenacious, too, brimming with R&B grooves and a whole lot of soul.