If an album should bear the name Self Titleded, then this. Kae Tempest has always written autobiographically. First, the texts were based on observations of other people. With The Line IS A Curve, I came to the center in 2022. Self Titleded now circles. Not disoriented, but led with a quiet hand.
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But always in motion. KAE has been defined as a transperson since 2020. The voice has changed, is deeper. Kae changes between the locations in the key piece “Know yourself”; A dialogue between the old and the new I. It is quite possible that “Sunshine on Catford” is not a love song for two people, but a dialogue between a boy and a current part of a person.
Neil Tennant takes over a part, the song is the biggest pop moment on Self Titleded. The album is shaped by Kae Tempests hip-hop and poetry roots. Producer Fraser T Smith, known for his work for Adele or Stormzy, has built a modern sound that challenges the lyrics. At the beginning with a bombast. More elegant in the course of the plate. What leads to the swinging Ethno-Electronica of “Bless the Bold Future”, to the tripphop of “Prayers to Whisper”, to the aftermath of “Til ‘Morning” with a jazz trumpet, as played by Chet Baker.
This review was first published in the MusikExpress 08/2025.