BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US

by Jessie Reyez

Overview

Anyone familiar with the range Jessie Reyez has shown since 2016 was not taken aback by news that the artist fought the pressure to make her first album a cohesive one. The uncommonly versatile singer and songwriter went multi-platinum in her native Canada with a sparse heartbreak ballad, "Figures." Its parent release, the Kiddo EP, also featured the glass-rattling "Gatekeeper" -- an alarming account of her experience with a sexual predator -- in which she sang from her perspective, and rapped and sang from that of the offender. She has co-written simple love songs like "One Kiss," a U.K. number one, U.S. Top 40 pop hit for Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa, and has also worked with Romeo Santos, Eminem, and Sam Smith. All of this has indicated that Reyez is a complex figure not cut out for unloading unified, easily digestible LPs. Before Love Came to Kill Us simply, if in a deliberately messy way, expands on her EPs, singles, and collaborations. Reyez makes her entrance with "I shoulda fucked your friends" on the adult contemporary quasi-trap ballad "Do You Love Her," and just before the reappearance of "Figures" finishes with a comparably wholesome form of remorse on the gospel-tinged "I Do." The in-between highlights are just as scattered. Reyez uses her voice as a protean instrument -- the settings of which include crooning child, squeaky-swaggering hedonist, high-velocity rapper, and raging Gwen Stefani -- and on the haunted ballad "La Memoria," she sings in her first language. Unsurprisingly, the emotions are varied and unfiltered. Reyez is obsessed enough to "jump off the roof" (the Eminem duet "Coffin"), willing to pledge her allegiance to XXXTentacion's "Fuck Love" ("Deaf [Who Are You]"), steadfast and grateful in the traditional ballad sense ("Love in the Dark"), and assertive in dominance ("Ankles"). That covers less than one-quarter of what Reyez relates here. Although it's all over the place, Before Love Came to Kill Us radiates conviction from front to back, and is without doubt a true representation of its creator. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	03/27/2020
Label:	Island / Polydor
UPC:	0602508646102

Tracks

1. Do You Love Her
2. Deaf (Who Are You)
3. Intruders
4. Coffin
5. Ankles
6. Imported
7. La Memoria
8. Same Side
9. Roof
10. Dope
11. Kill Us
12. Love in the Dark
13. I Do
14. Figures

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jessie Reyez   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Rico Nasty   Primary Artist
Melii   Primary Artist
A Boogie wit da Hoodie   Primary Artist
6LACK   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Eminem   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
JID   Primary Artist
Tobias Frelin   Guitar (Bass),Guitar
Johann Deterville   Piano,Percussion
Andre Harris   Drums,Organ,Keyboards
Luis Resto   Keyboards
Jermaine Jackson   Drums,Keyboards
Kristina Michelle   Vocals
Gorden Campbell   Vocals
Ann Marie Simpson   Violin
Amy Langley   Cello
Savannah Re   Vocals (Background)
Tim Suby   Guitar (Electric)
Jonathan Buice   Keyboards
Fred Ball   Keyboards,Piano
Dernst Emile II   Vocals
Matthew Burnett   Piano
Bjoern Djupstroem   Guitar (Bass)
Kyle Owens   Vocals (Background)
Andre' Pinckney   Guitar (Bass)
Mark Bassett   Cello
JT Roach   Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Andre Pickney   Guitar (Bass)
Jaramye Daniels   Vocals
Shroom Beeze   Drums
Lazuli   Bass,Keyboards,Guitar (Bass)
Andre "Dre" Harris   Drums,Organ,Keyboards
Abby Khalek   Violin
John Dillinger   Viola
Kristina Michell   Vocals
Anders Soe   Guitar
Hennedub   Bass,Drums,Keyboards,Percussion,Bass (Vocal)
Bianca McClure   Violin
Memru Ranjaan   Guitar

Technical Credits

Tobias Frelin   Producer,Composer
Johann Deterville   Composer
Tom Kahre   Recording
Henrik Wolsing   Composer,Recording
Casey Cuayo   Mixing Assistant
Roget Chahayed   Composer,Producer
Riley Bell   Mixing
Mario Jefferson   Composer
Cole Nystrom   Mixing
Akil King   Composer
Andre Harris   Composer,Producer
Eminem   Producer,Additional Production
Jermaine Jackson   Composer,Recording
Mura Masa   Producer
Rob Kinelski   Mixing
Andrew Chavez   Mixing,Recording
Rio   Producer
Joe Strange   Engineer,Recording
Tom Elmhirst   Mixing
Andre Robertson   Composer
Artist Dubose   Composer
Vegyn   Composer,Producer
Jessy Aaron Singh   Producer
Savannah Re   Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer
Tim Suby   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Recording,Drum Programming
Blvk Jvck   Producer
R!O   Producer,Recording,Vocal Arrangement
P2J   Producer
Karl Wingate   Editing,Engineer,Recording
Tony Campana   Recording
Mayne   Engineer,Recording
Fred Ball   Producer,Recording,Composer
Sean Davidson   Composer
Dernst Emile II   Composer,Producer
The Monarch   Producer,Vocal Producer,Additional Production
Mike Strange   Engineer,Recording
Richard Isong   Composer
Alex Deyoung   Mastering Engineer
Bjoern Djupstroem   Mixing,Composer,Producer,Recording
Alex Delicata   Producer,Additional Production
Andre Davidson   Composer,Engineer
John "J-Banga" Kercy   Mixing,Recording
Alexander Delicata   Composer
Jaramye Daniels   Composer
Audrey Ducassee   Composer
Rui Afonso   Composer
Maria Cecilia Simone Kelly   Composer
Matthew Scatchell   Mixing Assistant
YogiTheProducer   Mixing,Producer
Kamo   Producer
Lazuli   Producer
Bizness Boi   Producer
Brandon Bost   Mixing Engineer
Andre "Dre" Harris   Producer
Alexander Crossan   Composer
Alex Estevez   Recording
Andrew Harr   Composer
Mike Bozzi   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Shy Carter   Composer
Marshall Mathers   Composer
Colin Leonard   Mastering Engineer
Beast and the Priest   Recording
JID   Composer
Hennedub   Producer
John Thomas Roach   Composer
Darius Ginn   Composer
Ricardo Valentine   Composer
Spencer Muscio   Engineer,Recording
Jessie Reyez   Mixing,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Recording,Mixing Engineer