Albums: Weirdo

Released on 25 April 2025, "Weirdo" is the second studio album by English jazz musician Emma-Jean Thackray. The album came after Thackray's 2021 debut album, Yellow. In the case of Weirdo this record consists of nineteen songs.  The album focuses on themes such as mental health, depression and grief, and incorporates elements of contemporary soul, rock, jazz, funk, and hip-hop.

 

Thackray commenced the writing process for the album in 2022 and recorded it in her home studio in South London. She described the songs as "a grief diary" following the death of her partner in January 2023. The album was announced in January 2025, alongside the release of its first single, "Wanna Die. So far the album reached No 3 in the UK Jazz and Blues Album Chart in May 2025.

 

The album features standout collaborations with US artists Reggie Watts and Kassa Overall on tracks like the recently released "Black Hole" and "It's Okay," but its essence is rooted in Thackray's unique voice. Weirdo, is free and clean and absorb the array of emotions. The charming "Let Me Sleep" is one of the most representative of the set, the artist taking us deep into the slumber of depression where the attempted act of sleep is the only solace for peace. She measures and orchestrates the chemistry, balances the alchemy between words and charts, speaking so directly from the heart. The opener, "Something Wrong With Your Mind," has a background lyric readings in a different key symbolizing an emotion. 

 

"Wanna Die" is a slippery do through amalgam textures a striking blend of frenetic energy and emotional vulnerability in which she pushes the tempo high, with guitars and repetitive lyrics mimicking the up-and-down roller coaster of an unstable mind-frame after losing someone. Other two interesting and different songs are "Tofu" and "Fried Rice," that move quickly, with funk and sing-song appeal. One of the album's standout is "It's Okay" featuring Kassa Overall, the jazz drummer and MC, then the gospel-tinged anthem "Thank You for the Day" highlighst the best of Emma as an arranger, jazz musician.

 

Drawing on an eclectic mix of influences—grunge, pop, soul, p-funk, and jazz— "Weirdo" is an quite interesting record, indeed,  is a triumphant celebration of survival and individuality, an album that is made from grief unafried of taking risks, proving the huge talent of this artist, musically eclectically inspired, thematically deep and profound with lush musicality and jazz harmonies.

 

Weirdo Track List:

 

1. Something Wrong With Your Mind

2. Weirdo

3. Stay

4. Let Me Sleep

5. Please Leave Me Alone

6. Save Me

7. Maybe Nowhere

8. What Is The Point

9. Black Hole featuring Reggie Watts

10. In Your Mind

11. Tofu

12. Fried Rice

13. Where'd You Go

14. Wanna Die

15. Staring At The Wall

16. I Don't Recognise My Hands

17. It's Okay featuring Kassa Overall

18. Remedy

19. Thank You For The Day