What Are The Odds

Jorja Smith flirted with dance music in the earliest days of her career, lending her distinctive, smoky-toned vocals to 2017’s club-oriented Preditah collaboration “On My Mind”. Since then, she’s generally stayed closer to the R&B and soul-pop sound which earned her a BRIT Award in 2019. On <i>What Are the Odds</i>, the Midlands-born singer-songwriter’s third studio album, Smith makes a full commitment to the dance floor. Produced by P2J—whose prolific output includes work for Beyoncé, Stormzy, Wizkid and more—<i>What Are the Odds</i> carves out a natural lane for Smith, somewhere between garage and Afro-house. <b>“This City”</b> pairs her with UK rapper Devlin on an urgent plea for understanding, delivered over thumping breakbeats; the frenetic percussion anchoring <b>“Make It Your Home”</b> sets a relentless pace at thrilling odds with Smith’s languid vocals; while an evocative saxophone motif adds a bluesy air of wistfulness to the skittering drum ’n’ bass flavour of <b>“I Lied, You Lied”</b>. The undeniable standout is <b>“Dancing”</b>, with its propulsive hip-house beat, elastic bassline and irresistibly catchy “La la la la” hook. It’s often a gamble when artists experiment with new sounds—with <i>What Are the Odds</i>, Smith hits the jackpot.