Album Of The Week in both The Guardian and Stereogum, and none other than Lorde has termed it "in my ears the years best". For more or less a brand-new artist, Fabiana Palladino faces an unusual level of anticipation. The London musician broke out in 2017 as one of the Paul Institute's founding artists after her shadowy, classicist R&B influenced pop reached Jai Paul, who started the label alongside his brother A. K. Paul. Releasing just three singles in four years, she caught the ear of critics - Pitchfork likened "Mystery" to "a scratch track from a big-budget 80s studio that's been smuggled out on reel-to-reel tape" - but Palladino's output remained slight while she worked as an in-demand session musician for the likes of SBTRKT and Jessie Ware, and performed with Jai Paul on his comeback single "Do You Love Her Now" and in his live band. The self-titled album feels like a classic pop album: its nimble melodies haunting and sensual, the writing elegantlywhittled down to turn complex questions about desire and satisfaction into immediate hooks. "The songwriting isrelatively traditional," says Palladino, "but the production isn't. It's trying to disrupt certain expectations." Palladino's pop career is finally taking flight but that doesn't mean the anticipation is over.