We Made This Ourselves

We Made This Ourselves, the first album by New York-via-London expat Essie Jain, is an insanely spare and sparse work. Accompanied by piano and guitar (as well as other instruments, like drums by Jim White of The Dirty Three), Jain's vocals breathe in the space between the words and phrases. The album sounds like she's surrounded by an entire orchestra, each member waiting patiently for their one moment to play, then fading again to stillness.