Lex Amor: Forward Ever (digital, Modern Oak, October 2024)

I described Lex Amor’s debut, Government Tropicana, as “super laid-back”. Well, I think she’s mellowed in the intervening four years. This is positively horizontal. Her vocals take more of a back-seat, and in particular the low-key pyrotechnics of the freestyle tracks on that mixtape are dialled right back here. To the fore are hazy atmospheric instrumentals and soulful backing vocals, underpinned by some addictive beats and breaks. The lyrics are nostalgic and contemplative but also hopeful — check out the end of 1000 Tears, where she finds strength and even magic in the pain of heartbreak, say. I’ll confess I found this record a little bit harder to get into than the first one, it doesn’t have the obvious hooks, and I might not have made the effort if I hadn’t loved that so much. But I’m sure glad that I did. I’m now totally bewitched by it and I love it more with every listen.

I bought this from the artist’s bandcamp page.