Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Now, a year afterWhats Your Pleasure?s June 2020 release,that inner attitude has doubled.
And so, she released a deluxe,Whats Your Pleasure?
When she first wrote it, she thought a dance diva likeKylie Minoguecouldve sung it.
The Platinum Pleasure Editionmakes the latter case.
It feels like the after-party extension of the original album: looser, sexier, and altogether more heightened.
Ive got work to do.
I dont want [the next album] to be a 2.0Whats Your Pleasure?, she says.
I felt like we could extend the celebration, because hey, maybe they wont like the next record!
New song you cant wait to play live
Im really excited to do Soul Control.
I think kindly is gonna be really fun live too, just cause theres so many different voices.
I want us to just be at a party, having fun, flirting together.
I met them at the Brit Awards the other day, I had to Google what they looked like.
They were like, That songs really good.
That bass line is so commanding.
Most classically disco
Im still learning about disco, and theres so many different elements of it.
Spotlight feels quite disco, but then actually no.Step Into My Life?
I dont even know if youd call that disco, really.
[Spotlight] was very much inspired by Fern Kinney and Love Me Tonight and that kind of feel.
That thing of, you could be on the dance floor, but yearning.
It is slightly other-dimensional to the rest of the record, more of a vintage feel.
Also, that [Endless] remix is so good!
Honestly, thats when remixes are so worthwhile.
A lot of the time theyre a waste of time, arent they?
God, I shouldnt say that, but you know what I mean?
Like somebody hasnt cared enough, theyve taken the check.
That one just felt so honest and sensual and beautiful.
Most melancholy song
Theres a few, isnt there?
TheresStrangest Feeling,Devotion.Tough Love I dont know, maybe thats not that melancholy.
Yeah, [laughs] lots of misery.
I feel like the most [is] probably from the first record, likeSwan Songor Devotion.
I wouldnt have been able to write c’mon when I was 28.
I wouldnt have known what to do.
I wasnt confident enough.
And I always thought my voice suited melancholy songs and notes much better.
I was obsessed with Sade.
Hardest song to sing
I havent tried any of these new ones that are coming out.
And I really struggled withSay You Love Mefor a long time, but I can do that now.
It was an absolute bugger.
[Laughs] But I hate that feeling.
Youre like,Am I gonna get it?
I can relax now.Otherwise, youre waiting for that second verse to redeem yourself.
It pulls me back to that time.
[To her husband nearby] Sam!
Which is one of my most romantic songs, babe?
[Sam responds out of earshot.]
No, not Tracy Chapman, one of mine!
[Sam responds again, out of earshot.]
And she loves it, but whenever she asks for it to be put on, its really bittersweet.
I almost cant listen to it, cause it makes me feel too guilty about that time.
But Im glad that hopefully it feels like a celebratory song for her.
But Im always touched if she wants to hear it, its very sweet.
Sam Burrows[in background]:Samis quite romantic as well.
Jessie Ware:Sam?
SB:Sam is quite romantic.
JW:Okay, Sam is saying that Sam is quite romantic.
Sometimes the Zoom ones arent as fun.
I wish that we could dothe Dolly Parton oneagain so I wasnt so starstruck.
Youre going, So, Dolly?
What did you think?
Song youre proudest of
I felt like we really pushed it with Remember Where You Are.
If I can make a whole album of Remember Where You Ares, Id be really happy.
That one Im incredibly proud of.
They feel like breakthroughs in my songwriting.
Also, theres a hint to maybe the next route of where things will go for the next record.
[That song] felt like it was written within this world ofWhats Your Pleasure?
It hopefully will feel, then, like the continuation onto the next record will make sense.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
