Weirdo (album)

Last updated

Weirdo
Emma-Jean Thackray - Weirdo.jpg
Studio album by
Released25 April 2025 (2025-04-25)
Studio
  • Movementt (London)
  • Stones Throw (Los Angeles)
  • Yellow Shed (Seattle) [1]
Length57:41
Label
Producer Emma-Jean Thackray
Emma-Jean Thackray chronology
Yellow
(2021)
Weirdo
(2025)
Singles from Weirdo
  1. "Wanna Die"
    Released: 28 January 2025

Weirdo is the second studio album by English jazz musician Emma-Jean Thackray. It was released on 25 April 2025 by Brownswood Recordings and Parlophone, in CD, LP and digital formats. [2]

Contents

Background

Released four years after Thackray's 2021 debut album, Yellow, Weirdo consists of nineteen songs with a total runtime of fifty-seven minutes and forty-one seconds. [3] The album focuses on themes such as mental health, depression and grief [4] , and incorporates elements of contemporary soul, rock, jazz, funk, and hip-hop. [3] [5] Thackray commenced the writing process for the album in 2022 and recorded it in her home studio in South London. [3] 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" [6] , with a music video directed by Thackray and Nick Suchak. [2] The album reached No 3 in the UK Jazz and Blues Album Chart in May 2025 [7] .

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash 9/10
The Line of Best Fit 8/10
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg

John Murphy of MusicOMH referred to Weirdo as "an album born of grief that is unafraid to take risks and, in so doing, underlines a huge talent," rating it four out of five. [8] The Line of Best Fit assigned the album a rating of eight out of ten and described it as "a total triumph" that "presents a potentially overwhelming spread of sound" and is "musically eclectically inspired, thematically deep and profound." [3] Clash noted, "one of Weirdo's most immediately obvious qualities is its collection of relentlessly light-on-its-feet and funky music," rating it nine out of ten. [5] Andy Cowan of Mojo remarked, "these 19 diaristic tracks (their titles a sequence of red flags) temper spilled thoughts and raw emotion with lush musicality, jazz harmonies and singalong grooves," giving it a rating of four stars. [9] The Guardian opined, "But for all its stark imagery and bleak themes, Weirdo is 'about wanting to live'." [10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Emma-Jean Thackray; "Black Hole" written with Reggie Watts and "It's Okay" written with Kassa Overall.

Weirdo track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Something Wrong with Your Mind"0:31
2."Weirdo"4:39
3."Stay"4:23
4."Let Me Sleep"4:55
5."Please Leave Me Alone"0:47
6."Save Me"4:51
7."Maybe Nowhere"5:14
8."What Is the Point"1:47
9."Black Hole" (featuring Reggie Watts)4:12
10."In Your Mind"0:50
11."Tofu"2:13
12."Fried Rice"1:06
13."Where'd You Go"4:43
14."Wanna Die"2:41
15."Staring at the Wall"2:06
16."I Don't Recognise My Hands"1:08
17."It's Okay" (featuring Kassa Overall)3:31
18."Remedy"3:35
19."Thank You for the Day"4:29
Total length:57:41

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [1]

Charts

Chart performance for Weirdo
Chart (2025)Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [11] 67
UK Album Downloads (OCC) [12] 12

References

  1. 1 2 Emma-Jean Thackray (25 April 2025). Weirdo (Media notes). Brownswood Recordings, Parlophone.
  2. 1 2 Murray, Robin (28 January 2025). "Emma-Jean Thackray Announces New Album Weirdo". Clash . Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Oinonen, Janne (23 April 2025). "Emma-Jean Thackray: Weirdo review – triumphant grief". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  4. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/22/uk-jazz-star-emma-jean-thackray-new-album-weirdo
  5. 1 2 Morgan, Tom (24 April 2025). "Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo". Clash . Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  6. https://ejthackray.bandcamp.com/album/weirdo
  7. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/56781/emma-jean-thackray/
  8. Murphy, John (25 April 2025). "Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo". MusicOMH . Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  9. Cowan, Andy. "Mojo Magazine: June 2025 issue". Mojo . p. 86. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  10. Hutchinson, Kate (22 April 2025). "UK jazz star Emma-Jean Thackray: 'I had the word weirdo thrust upon me. So I'm reclaiming it'". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  11. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  12. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2025.