Jermaine’s Corner: the power of the Album foreword

Per Capita‘s Music Editor, Jermaine Lawal-Adewale, shares his Musical Musings on Album Forwards, Brixton Academy and Jorja Smith

“Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would,” Taylor Swift writes in her prologue to the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) re-release. 

Whatever you may call it – the foreword, or even just the “acknowledgements” section (for the purpose of this article, I’ll go with the former), the foreword is usually one of the most intimate and unabashed opportunities for artists to explain their work and the intentions behind it.

Yet, it can often go completely under the radar, with its placement doing it no favours. Wherever the foreword may go, be it the inside sleeve of an album where it sits at the underside of a dazzling, captivating album cover, or at the very back of the album, not only beneath the dazzling cover but also behind the CD, cassette tape or vinyl that listeners have anticipated for years, it’ll always slot in as an undercard to the music itself. Forewords don’t even exist on streaming services, the most popular form of consumption in many major music markets – such a key piece of the listening experience has its existence relegated, with platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music bringing the listener as close to the tracks on the album as possible, all with no extra baggage. Such is its relatively obscure status amid the greater picture of the album package, then.

Not to be confused with the more formal “album note” (or liner note), the foreword represents the artist’s uninterrupted thoughts documenting their process of recording, or any personal battles they may have gone through in curating such a body of work. They exist as a form of open letter to listeners, in which the artist puts into words what they didn’t already do in the accompanying album. They can even at times be seen as the artist conversing with themselves, reminiscing on their time making the record and the period of life that prompted the resulting set of songs.

A prime example of this would be Adele’s 25, an album which she described in an open letter to fans as being “about getting to know who I’ve become without realising”. Not only that, but the foreword is also usually one of the final sign offs to an album before its distribution to the public. In Adele’s case, the album became a blockbuster hit immediately, with it holding the record for the fastest selling-album of all time in many countries based on first-week sales, including both the UK and US. For her and many other artists subject to widespread appeal, be it criticism or adoration, such a time alone with the music is the last time they’ll ever have before the album is the subject of discourse based on its subject topics.

It clearly is the case that a hidden feature of the listening process relative to that of the actual music itself, or the arresting visuals alongside the music, packs just as much as of a punch when it comes to analysing the listening experience – one can only hope for such an underappreciated aspect no longer going under the radar.

Jorja Smith: Walsall native, Jorja Smith, delivered a stellar set in one of London’s newest concert venues.

Jorja Smith has long been hailed as one of the brightest British talents to emerge in the last decade. Hosted at London’s newest Outernet venue, Smith’s vocals soared for over an hour as she performed a set of tracks from her latest release

Smith’s rise to stardom has been well-documented from her 2016 breakthrough single “Blue Lights”, with success widening the audience to which Smith’s subsequent projects were exposed. A wave of immense publicity would follow in 2018; having been named the recipient of the coveted BRITs Critics’ Choice award at the top of the year, her long-anticipated debut LP “Lost & Found” was released to high critical acclaim in the summer, in a year that also saw the Walsall native have a supporting slot on Drake’s world tour, having collaborated with him on his project More Life. 

Jorja’s performance perfectly matched the mood of the album. The album in its entirety was not the only thing performed, though, as there’s even time for some of more Smith’s major hits – older cuts such the aforementioned breakthrough hit “Blue Lights”, “Be Honest” and “On My Mind” found itself rounding out the show alongside Falling or Flying’s breakaway hit “Little Things”. Highlights include the sultry title track and the moving, albeit brief, “Broken is the Man”. Such a mesmerising set underlined the development of a professional artist, one that has emerged from a period clouded by heartbreak and issues of identity, on the road to healing.

Such a rapid rise to such a large degree of fame understandably has its pitfalls: enter Falling or Flying, Smith’s formal follow-up to her monumental debut which reflects on exactly that – dealing with the pitfalls of fame, and all that comes with it. Recorded mainly in her hometown of Walsall, to which she moved back after the hustle and bustle of London became too overwhelming, the stellar album sees Jorja narrate her journey into womanhood and navigating her personal relationships following the heightened platform she was launched onto. The record’s sound mirrors this reflection too, dabbling in reggae, R&B and even indie-rock, and clocking out at just shy of an hour.

Overall, such a fantastic set shows that for the pensiveness and introspection Smith’s latest release portrays, she will always be up for a dance.

The iconic London venue, Brixton Academy, is set to open its doors once more. We can only hope that lessons have been learnt in what is ultimately a win for both live music and the local economy.

After being shut for virtually all of 2023, O2 Academy Brixton has been greenlit to re-open after a crowd crush at an Asake concert last December that resulted in two deaths. Brixton Academy sits as a cornerstone of the British live music scene, with AMG reporting that it has attracted a total audience north of 2 million over the 650 shows it has put on since 2017. It has seen staggering heights of success in its relatively short existence as a concert venue since opening in 1983, hosting gigs such as the Smiths’ final show in December 1986 to Madonna’s 6-song, 30 minute gig in 2000 which also drew in an audience of over 9 million viewers online. Its widely-recognised legendary status, marked by the many accolades it has received (the most notable perhaps being the 12 “Best Venue” NME Awards it has won since 1994), only further justified its reputation as one of the most esteemed British venues around.

Situated on Stockwell Road, the venue is the heartbeat of Brixton, with it being a major factor for the number of people who visit the South London area annually. A study by the Brixton Improvement District underlines this, with its findings revealing that the venue’s temporary closure had resulted in a £537,000 decrease in visitor spending in the area, as well as an average weekly decrease of 19,300 in visitor numbers. It is clear that the venue’s stature, both culturally and economically, make it a near-immovable presence, with the scope of its impact putting any conversations about whether the return of its licence is merited to bed.

There remain steps to be taken in light of the tragedy that led to this situation. Lambeth Council seems to agree too, with the seventy-seven conditions proposed by AMG as necessary for the O2 Academy venue’s reopening reflecting the rightful caution being taken, so as to avoid a repeat of the 10-month old incident. Even “test events” will be held before the venue formally reopens; such trial runs should provide closure to any cynics who need further convincing of whether the venue is fit for purpose.

The decision to reopen Brixton Academy is the right one. And when the moment comes, concertgoers should not hesitate to return to one of the most iconic venues around.

Image from Flickr