Mabel - High Expectations

First albums are tricky, no matter who you are. But when you’ve sold out Brixton and had two platinum singles before you’ve released your debut, the pressure not to put a foot wrong is off the charts. It’s to Mabel’s credit that ‘High Expectations’, her first studio album, knocks it out of the park.

‘Bad Behaviour’, the first proper track (track one is an intro) is classic Mabel – a volatile mix of pop and RnB with ‘massive hit single’ plastered all over it. The previously released ‘Don’t Call Me Up’ follows, a one-two punch of flawless chart material that shows exactly why Mabel has had no trouble racking up millions of streams.

After the opening salvo comes ‘FML’, a classic tale of love and heartbreak that also features Mabel soulfully lamenting “Fuck my life” over and over in the chorus. It’d be noteworthy for that alone, but it’s also an absolute banger, even if it’s not entirely clear how they plan on making a clean version for radio.

It’s a strong start, but the album stalls in the middle with a run of songs which, while not bad by any means, blend together without much to separate them. ‘We Don’t Say’, ‘Selfish Love’ and ‘Trouble’ all sound more like bonus tracks or B-sides than album material, and with the album clocking in at 14 tracks, a bit more curation wouldn’t have gone amiss.