The title of soulful South East London singer Andreya Triana’s debut album has nothing to do with her musical identity, but more to do with the brutal sides of being an artist. Known from her work with Bonobo, Aaron Jerome (SBTRKT) Flying Lotus, Theo Parrish and Mr Scruff, Triana is finally on her own. The album is produced by Bonobo with some help from Fink; two incredibly soulful and organic artists that fits Andreya’s style, and together they worked with live musicians creating timeless and contemporary music. The album avoids the post trip-hop trap, or the travesty of “down-tempo, acoustic, coffee shop soul,” and goes straight for heartfelt, folksy and jazzy soul, with freeform instrumentation and percussive elements accompanying her deep and husky voice. It’s follows in a classic singer-songwriter vein.

Opener “Draw the Stars”’ is wrapped in dreaming marimba beats (or is it xylophone?) and mystic strings that make your thoughts wander. The Bonobo production is recognizable with the unconventional yet folksy and soulful acoustic production. Her singing sounds a little uninspired, but she reminisce Bajka and her fellow Brighton-based soul sister Alice Russell, dressed in the same nakedness of Lou Rhodes One Good Thing album. The title track “Lost Where I Belong” is a grower, and what first sounded uninspired now sounds reflected, like looking out the window on a rainy day. Its acoustic pop soul sounds more rugged than Sade or Corinne Bailey Rae, almost as heartfelt as Amy Winehouse. This is not uplifting soul, but you still fall in love with the sound. The Flying Lotus remix of that track is a fantastic piece of space soul, and he returns the favor from “Tea Leaf Dancers”.  “A Town Called Obsolete” follows, and it’s the up-tempo track of the album without promising too much; a sticky piece of slow funk.  It’s the second single, and the Mount Kimbie remix is just a beautiful dubstep hybrid. The first three tracks make the core of the album. “Darker Than Blue” is a moody pop song with spooky whistling and accordion, you almost expect French lyrics. “Daydreamer” is another dark song with an organ backing that could easily fit on any Sia album, and she shows more vocal range. “Far Closer” moves like a slow Daptone track with a funky bassline and crying horns, like a forgotten Northern Soul single minus the huge vocals. “Up In Fire” is the most energetic cut on the album, with funky, jazzy horns and sharp drums, but the meaning of funk is relative in this setting. “Something In the Silence” is the most delightful track on the record, with a breezy bossa nova sound and whispering maracas. It goes right along with “Sound Of The Samba” by Victor Davies. Album closer “X” is a quiet and bittersweet song about a breakup, with fragile, insightful lyrics and a perfectly accompanying sparse production with strings.

Lost Where I Belong is an impressive debut and shows that Andreya is just as good a songwriter as she is singer. The nine-track set clocks in at a brief 37-minutes and sounds cohesive; the whole album follows in a similar vein without really repeating itself, but she should change up her register more to avoid sounding a little monotone. All in all one of the strongest debuts of 2010.

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