It’s been a long time coming for artist Jessie Reyez, who has been blessing the world with her unique brand of R&B for some time. Since her 2016 hit “Figures,” she’s delivered two EPs, Kiddo and Being Human In Public, a slew of songwriting assists, features for the likes of Eminem, Russ, and Calvin Harris, and more. Over the weekend, she finally liberated her official debut album Before Love Came To Kill Us, which sees 14 bilingual tracks and — in addition to her aforementioned breakout single — is led by album cuts “Love In The Dark” and the 6LACK-assisted “Imported.”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reyez explained her uses of both English and Spanish on the album, a callback to her Columbian heritage and Canadian upbringing:
Even though Spanish is my first language, when I’m working in Spanish I feel like you have to respect it more. Songs in Spanish have the freedom to get super heavy with poetry and alliteration and imagery, and it risks getting cheesy when you do that in English. But in Spanish you have free reign, and for whatever reason it doesn’t sound cheesy; it sounds beautiful. It takes me a little more effort and more care to be able to write in Spanish. I think maybe it’s something subconscious because Spanish is the language that I learned how to love and how to be a human [in]. So maybe that’s why things just feel more intimate for me when I sing in Spanish.
You can check out Before Love Came To Kill Us, which is available on all major streaming platforms. Also included is the deluxe stream, which includes three additional tracks and appearances from JID, Melii, Rico Nasty and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, along with a new music video for “I Do” and live renditions as part of a recent team-up with VEVO.