J.Lamotta is an artist born and raised in Tel Aviv to a Moroccan family who now calls Berlin home. Two years ago, she released her debut album, Conscious Tree, on Jakarta Records. She now comes back with her sophomore album, Suzume.

When J.Lamotta released her first album, it was entirely self-produced, relying mainly on samples and found sounds. Since that time, she has toured internationally extensively with her live band, The Dizzy Sparrow, and that is reflected here on Suzume. It’s still all written and produced by Lamotta, but she fleshes out her sound with live strings, horns, bass, keyboards, and drums. The resulting sound of the album is one that is incredibly warm and soulful, landing somewhere between Erykah Badu and Bill Withers on the scale of smooth and intimate R&B. Lamotta doesn’t have a big voice, but she’s got a great tone and a wonderful ear for melody, which work together well with her incredibly open and honest lyricism. It’s not anything that hasn’t been done before, but when it’s done this well, you really don’t care. Lamotta is intoxicating on the mic, drawing you in with a mix of charisma, musicianship, and observations about life and love that have come from being on the road over the last few years. The grooves are incredibly tight, and Lamotta does a great job of incorporating all of the musicians to create a full and lush sound without ever sounding too busy. The album immediately drew me in from the beginning of the opening track, “If you wanna,” with it’s warm, enveloping groove and Lamotta’s sweet-yet-confident voice on the mic setting the tone for the rest of the album. It all flows perfectly from there, hitting on the highs and lows of life as Lamotta grew since her first album.

Suzume is a great next step for J.Lamotta, opening up her sound and solidifying herself as not just a talented singer, but as a producer and songwriter as well. It’s a mature, soulful, and beautiful album with a wonderfully realized sound.