Abra spent her childhood in London, and she grew up singing in the church that her parents built. After relocating to Atlanta, where she would spend her teenage years, she began uploading her acoustic covers of rap music to Youtube. Father, the founder of Awful Records, discovered the clips and signed her to the label in 2014, which marked the start of Abra making original music. Rose is the second release from the talented "Darkwave Duchess," and the 2015 LP, thanks to Ninja Tune, is now out on vinyl. As her alias suggests, Abra isn't afraid to explore the darker, more vulnerable sides of her emotions, and this self-produced, '80s-pop-influenced album offers her mesmerizing take on r&b. Switching between upbeat and downtempo rhythms, the deliberately underdone electronic backdrop leaves plenty of space for the singer's graceful-yet-yearning vocals, and Roses is an album you can enjoy over headphones or dance away to. Check out the title track, "Fruit," "No Chill," "Pride," and "U Kno."

• two fold-out poster inserts
• download code included
• music label: Ninja Tune 2015 / 2017

reviewed by nakaveli 10/2017