The second 2023 surprise album from UK soul singer and songwriter Cleo Sol, produced by her Sault collaborator Inflo, kicks off with a bewitching initial track “There Will Be No Crying,” a plaintive, perfectly pitched opener with a laid-back-but-locked-in rhythm section and the gentlest of piano and guitar licks leaving space for Sol to effortlessly soar. From then on it’s another nine tracks of tenderly delivered soul and R’n’B, based around Gold’s themes of religion and love — the two classic soul music subjects, the very foundations of the genre. One of Sol’s many charms is her vocal restraint, the softness she brings, the sense that there may well be huge waves of simmering emotion just below the surface, but she can, if she chooses, communicate them perfectly well with softness and compassion. It’s a beautiful album.