As October starts creeping in and autumn starts its minimal appearance in the Central Florida area, the type of music I begin listening to leans closer to that kind of coffee shop music that makes me want to have a good book in one hand, a mug of hot chocolate in the other, all while being snuggled under a blanket – you know, the sweater weather vibes. Like right now, I have Snoh Aalegra’s new album Ugh, those feels again on with one of those “fall” scented candles lit, as well as a cup of hot coffee and the blinds closed to hide the sun … listen, Lake Nona, do not let anyone stop you from enjoying this season, even in the 80-degree weather. I sure don’t!
Let’s start with a little background on Aalegra since she’s not as well known to those who don’t follow the current R&B scene closely. She was born and raised in Sweden to Iranian parents, now currently living in Los Angeles. She debuted in music under the stage name Sheri, later changing to “Snoh Aalegra” in 2014. Her first album Feels released in 2017, and now she has come back with even more feels and titled her second album accordingly.
This album begins with an amazing intro titled “Here Now.” Her voice is tuned to a higher pitch but just until the beat drops, which creates an exciting contrast. We hear her actual silky voice come in without any distortion, which gets us excited to jump into the full-length songs.
The first song, “I Want You Around,” pushed me to continue listening to the rest of the album in one sitting; the mellow beat suits her voice and allows her to showcase those velvety vocals of hers that can put you into a trance. “Situationship” tackles feelings of confusion and indecisiveness in a relationship, and we get to hear more of Aalegra’s range as she sings in higher octaves than the previous song. She beautifully captures the aura of being in love in “Whoa,” where she simply just sings, “You make me feel like whoa,” but the soul behind her voice makes you completely understand the place of speechlessness that she’s coming from – “whoa” pretty much sums it up.
One thing I really enjoy about this album is that it’s purely Aalegra, no features, just her singing her heart out to her own words. But there are moments in songs where we hear other voices in the background, and in “Find Someone Like You,” a choir gives the song a nuance that it wouldn’t have otherwise and takes this song about finding that perfect someone to a heavenly level. “Love Like That” is one of the more solemn songs on the album as it talks about a toxic type of love; you can pick out a violin quietly playing alongside the beat. Really pulls on your heartstrings.
“Be Careful” is my favorite song off of the album, and sadly, it’s only a minute and 48 seconds long. But that’s because it works more as an interlude between the enchanting first half and the more melancholy second half of the album. Her voice is pitched lower occasionally throughout the song, which I like because it’s dramatic and makes the song as a whole stand out from everything else on the album.
“Charleville 9200, Pt. II” alludes to a love song off of her 2016 EP Don’t Explain. The love that she sang about in “Charleville 9200” has changed drastically in “Charleville 9200, Pt. II” and moved into a low point where the lovers are now complete strangers. “You” is absolutely heart wrenching due to the longing felt from the lyrics and the raspiness of Aalegra’s voice; she definitely had me all in my feels there! “Njoy” is another short song, but an empowering one where Aalegra lets go of those feelings of sadness and wishes her ex-lover goodbye for good.
She lifts us back up for a moment with “I Didn’t Mean To Fall In Love,” and all is lovely again as she recounts a love that occurred by accident. This spectacular album cathartically ends with “Peace,” and after so many feels, we can enjoy letting go of the ones that can sometimes make us crazy and finally gain the most freeing feeling of all: peace of mind.
