Cleo Sol – Heaven

Two years without a solo offering from Cleo Sol didn’t feel like a period of silence, not with her and partner Inflo’s six additional Sault albums and Little Simz’s No Thank You released between Mother and Heaven. The singer/songwriter’s third full-length as a solo artist, the half-hour Heaven — trailed two weeks later by the fourth, Gold, stamping out any lingering perception of lost time — is lighter and briefer than the double album Mother. Made in what sounds limited to a small combo setting with the favouring of acoustic instrumentation, Heaven is also less ornamented, without strings, brass, and large group choruses. It’s pared down in a structural sense, too. There are no eight-minute epics, and some songs fade in and out like excerpts from loosely structured jams. It’s all lightly shaded traditional soul with piano-led gospel and jazz foremost, graced with touches of blues, folk, and a little unforced funk.

Cleo seeks shelter and growth and extends consolation and encouragement in the album’s first third. While some of the sentiments read like motivational placards, the tender conviction in Cleo’s voice makes them sound like heartfelt responses to real-life events rather than stock platitudes. After the elated Southern-style soul of “Heaven,” the album goes in a different direction with a stark ballad of mourning that sums up a betrayal. “You told my secrets to strangers” is sung as if it took all of Cleo’s strength not to tremble. “Miss Romantic,” advice for a woman in a complicated relationship with an older man, picks up the tempo with drums slicing through an acoustic guitar web that might have been spun by credited co-writer Lianne Barnes (aka Lianne La Havas, quite possibly the trilling/humming vocalist the mix as well). The subtly dazzling “Golden Child (Jealous)” evokes a lost Minnie Riperton side produced by Stevie Wonder. “Nothing on Me” adds more variety yet by coming into view as if Cleo and company have found a sweet spot segueing out of a cover of D’Angelo’s “Spanish Joint.” “Love Will Lead You There,” just voice and guitar, closes out the album on a serene note of togetherness.