Compliments Please

Her love of hip hop is imbued in the very core of Compliments Please, shirking much of the folkish arrangements of Slow Club for a sound far bolder, and at 16 tracks strong it is clear that Taylor is not short of ideas.

With Self Esteem, Taylor may well have found the vehicle that can deliver on that ambition.

Reinvented and revitalised, rightly Taylor has taken her position as a real pop star and this album is a brilliant opening salvo.

From a project titled Self Esteem, ‘Compliments Please’ may sound like another statement of insecurity. To think this is to miss the point - turn it on its head, and the title becomes a stamp of assurance - you WILL love this record, and you will give it the respect it deserves.

Vocally and lyrically charged, Self Esteem’s debut is one that takes several paths in its journey, revealing Rebecca Taylor as a remarkable vocalist and a powerful lyricist.

The debut album by Self Esteem – AKA Rebecca Taylor, formerly of Slow Club – finds her translating some compellingly unflattering lyrics about her actions during a break-up into wild, ambitious pop that’s a million miles from her old band’s steady descent into Radio 2 pleasantries.

At 16 tracks there’s some filler but even with three interludes, Compliments Please is stunning. They serve to add drama and split the record into three acts: the opening and most direct third, a statement of intent. The second, the experimental phase. The third and final act is a wind-down for the album.

These songs have been a long time coming in Taylor’s mind. The manner in which she’s so able to channel vulnerabilities into tools for her advantage is a real strength. To paraphrase Taylor’s own words, no one is going to mess with her now.

Offering an exhaustive catalogue of romantic disappointments and dramatic feelings, ‘Compliments Please’ is about as subtle as it sounds. But then that’s precisely the point.