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Album Review: Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels

Matt O'Neill
StarStarStarHalf Star

"Swathes of synth, strings and wandering guitar."

More Emeli Sande Emeli Sande Profile

Following up world-beating debut album Our Version Of Events, Emeli Sande's Long Live The Angels offers a very different experience to the first record's widescreen-pop craftsmanship.

Ghostly and stripped-back, Sande's second album finds the singer-songwriter exploring a more delicate and textured sound. There are no dancefloor anthems. Outside of the very occasional detour (Hurts, Garden), drums of any kind are avoided. Instead, songs like Happen ride swathes of synth, strings and wandering guitar - Sande's songwriting taking on a curiously weightless air. It's undeniably less immediate than her previous works but, with time, it may actually prove even more rewarding.