Tequila, internet & heartbreak: This is what contemporary R’n’B sounds like.
When Mahalia sings about her cheating ex, you want to weep tears of happiness and dance in the streets – partly because the young Brit is begrudge the youngster for kicking the bad guy out, and partly because it’s almost impossible to resist her soulful voice and wonderfully nostalgic noughties R’n’B sound. Ex-partners generally don’t get off so well with Mahalia, like her 2019 single “I Wished I Missed My Ex” or her break-through anthem “Sober”.
So now IRL, which of course, internet heavy users will know, stands for “in real life”. “I spent so much time on my phone / I spent so much time on the internet”, Mahalia sings accordingly on “Isn’t It Strange” and wonders why she hasn’t worked so much on herself yet. “It’s not that bad,” you want to call out to her, because IRL is still a great place to dream away.
In fact, the album has become a relaxed, modern R’n’B record that lets Mahalia’s voice and her stories shine – even if a few rough edges would have done him good and a club track like “Goodbyes” irritates amidst all the mellowness. Nice but: a delicate, vulnerable Stormzy on “November”.