''Reflection'' is the second album by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based electronic musician Loraine James, released through

Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British electronic music record label and former webzine based in London, founded by Kode9, Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the l ...

in June 2021, which has been met with critical acclaim. It follows James' 2020 ''Nothing'' EP.

Composition

While ''Reflection'' is mostly an exploration of "heartfelt"

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

, it also quotes elements from drill music, R&B,

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

, and more.

Critical reception

''Reflection'' has received positive reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it holds a score of 86 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on nine reviews. Tom Morgan for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' lauded the record as "a work of seductive, heartfelt brilliance", noting that James is "at the absolute peak of her powers." He gave the album a 10 out of 10 rating. Stephen Worthy of '' Mojo'' described the album's tracks as James' "genre-bending confessionals that balance truth with hope." He added that as an "endlessly inventive album," ''Reflections'' "sets a noteworthy template for modern British electronic music", notably for being "a succession of counterpoints." While

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that "''Reflection'' doesn't quite have the shock of the new that ''For You and I'' did", the online database admitted that "its best moments are still powerful" and that "it would be impossible to mistake the album for anyone else's perspective."

Accolades

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums Albums produced by Loraine James Hyperdub albums Loraine James albums