Mother (Forever Living Originals)
Cleo Sol
Released August 19, 2021
JAZZ FM Album of The Year Nominee 2022
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lDaRBu5pPDO45wT8BWDOvPAUO9X_dGnOA
Spotify:
About:
Cleo Sol – Mother is the second studio album by British singer-songwriter Cleo Sol, released on August 20, 2021. The album is deeply personal, with themes centered around motherhood, family, healing, and self-discovery. As part of the Sault collective, Cleo Sol had already established herself as a key figure in the neo-soul and R&B world, but Mother showcases her vulnerability and emotional depth in a more intimate, reflective setting.
The album blends elements of soul, jazz, R&B, and folk, creating a serene, acoustic soundscape that complements its introspective lyrics. Mother features lush, soulful arrangements, with gentle strings, piano, and acoustic guitar forming the backbone of many tracks. The overall sound is calming and meditative, allowing Sol’s vocals to take center stage.
Lyrically, the album reflects on Cleo Sol’s experience with motherhood and the emotional changes it brings. She addresses themes of unconditional love, personal growth, and the challenges of raising a child while also navigating her own self-healing. Songs like “Don’t Let It Go to Your Head” and “We Need You” express a sense of nurturing and tenderness, while “Promises” speaks to the weight of responsibility and the desire to protect loved ones.
While Mother is a personal solo project, it is clear that Cleo Sol’s work with Sault influences its sound, especially in terms of the introspective lyricism and the use of minimalist, organic instrumentation. Producer Inflo, who has worked extensively with Sault, was also heavily involved in the production of Mother, contributing to its cohesive and intimate sound.
Overall, Mother is a deeply personal and emotionally rich album that solidifies Cleo Sol’s place as a standout voice in contemporary soul and R&B.
Track Listing:
1. Don’t Let Me Fall (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 5:39
2. Promises (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 4:24
3. Heart Full of Love (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 5:05
4. Build Me Up (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 8:02
5. Sunshine (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 4:22
6. We Need You (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic 7:21
7. Don’t Let It Go to Your Head (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 4:19
8. 23 (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 5:06
9. Music (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 6:10
10. One Day (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 8:25
11. Know That You Are Loved (Dean Josiah Cover / Josh Lloyd-Watson / Cleopatra Nikolic) 3:22
12. Spirit (Dean Josiah Cover / Cleopatra Nikolic) 4:16
Personnel:
Cleo Sol: vocals, instrumentation
Produced by Inflo
Review:
Cleo Sol’s second solo flight in as many years followed the third, fourth, and fifth albums she made with main musical partner Inflo and company as Sault. One of the trio, Untitled (Rise), was shortlisted for the 2021 Mercury Prize. That Mother is an engrossing double album — and was in the chamber before the June 2021 arrival of Sault’s fifth album, Nine — is yet more evidence of Cleo Sol and Inflo’s high levels of productivity and quality control. Like Rose in the Dark, this was written almost exclusively by the duo together and produced entirely by Inflo, with no further information provided. It’s essentially another set of out-of-time soul ballads, yet it’s somehow both more concentrated and expansive, eliciting comparisons to Roberta Flack and Carole King at their most intimate and inviting, and the concurrent productions of Charles Stepney, whether it’s the spirited group choruses or the harp glissandi. That’s not to say Mother isn’t its own thing. Take how it starts, with Cleo flashing back to a childhood in an abusive home, asking for comfort, and offering some of her own with loving advice — all over one of the album’s several backdrops that takes slight if deliberate turns, gradually advances and recedes in intensity, and folds in elements liable to activate tear ducts. In the second song, Cleo sings of romantic desertion, attesting “I’m still here” with as much steadiness as the drum pattern beneath her voice. Afterward, she sings mostly of gratitude, motherly love, and reassurance, always with tenderness and resolve. While “Sunshine” is worthy of its title with its soft glow and sense of essential renewal, and “Spirit” is a grand finale, the album’s emotional apex is located elsewhere. “23” is made of sweet soul that dazzles with a melodious bassline, mallets, harp, and other strings in full effect. The music facilitates Cleo’s difficult talk with her mother, in which the singer makes known her pain, frustration, and sympathy without equivocation.
Andy Kellman (AllMusic)
