YEARNALISM

Baby Rose’s voice makes most production decisions feel secondary: a contralto somewhere between Nina Simone and Tracy Chapman, tracked here on an old microphone never meant for singing because the better gear kept losing something important in these songs. Most of Yearnalism circles vintage 70s pop-soul, melodic and occasionally cinematic, with “But, Nvm” the standout. Not that it’s all warmth. Track one gets the venom out of the way first: “You ain’t got the motherfuckin’ answers / You’re a cancer.”

“Sunday” leaves other people out of it entirely, unhurried in her own company, she describes “a day of redemption” before it briefly breaks into Beatlesy blues rock near the end. A couple of duets appear along the way—Elmiene takes the second verse of “Is This Love” (neither of them answers the question), and Leon Thomas trades lines on “Friends Again” until it resolves into her speaking rather than singing—but this is her album, her triumph.