Emeli Sandé, How Were We to Know, review: her voice is good - these energy-sapping power ballads aren't

Sandé's fifth album is full of good vibes, but if only her songs matched her effervescent vocal talent

Emili Sandé’s latest album reflects a new sense of contentment (Photo: Jack Alexander)

November 17, 2023 6:00 am(Updated 8:53 am)

The London Olympics are today remembered for David Beckham guiding a power-boat down the Thames while looking like he urgently needed the loo, and for Daniel Craig pretending to go parachuting with the Queen. But the musical appearance that created the biggest splash was by Emeli Sandé, who sang at both the opening and closing ceremonies.

The Olympics introduced the Aberdeenshire artist to a global audience of millions. Yet it was an uncomfortable baptism for the naturally introverted singer, new to the spotlight and still “trying to work out how to be a famous person”.

Eleven years later, there is a sense she has at last come to terms with life in the public eye. Returning with her fifth album, How Were We to Know, she exudes a newfound air of peace and goes further than ever in sharing the ups and downs of her personal life. It probably helps that the ups have recently outnumbered the downs. Having divorced her marine biologist husband in 2014, Sandé last year revealed she is in a relationship with the classical pianist Yoana Karemova, to whom she is now engaged. The record is backlit by the glow of that romance.

But though the vibes are good, it’s a shame the positivity doesn’t carry through to the production by, among others, Miley Cyrus collaborator Jonny Coffer, which struggles to rise above the generic and anonymous. It’s at its starkest that the project truly shines. “Like I Loved You” sounds like Adele singing Massive Attack’s “Unfinished Sympathy”. Meanwhile, Sandé connects with her funkier side on “My Boy Likes to Party”, which recollects an unwise get-together with a bad boy.

Such highlights showcase Sandé’s effervescent voice. Elsewhere, alas, the LP congeals into affirmative gloop. Opener “All This Love” suggests Moby soundtracking a Marks and Spencer Christmas campaign. “Lighthouse” stumbles through a chorus that wants to be haunting yet which finally gives up the ghost.

Sandé was anointed a natural successor to Amy Winehouse when she released her debut, Our Version of Events, in 2012. There are moments on her latest album when she feels ready to take on the world. But epic emotions demand epic music. How Were We to Know misses its chance and too often settles for energy-sapping power balladry.

Stream: “Like I Loved You”, “My Boy Likes to Party”