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ALBUM OF THE DAY 1 DECEMBER 2025

Woman Of Faces

CELESTE

Released 14 November 2025

Atlas Artists / Polydor Records

*****

Celeste delivers her most musically ravishing work yet - a vocally flawless, sonically lush album whose thematic ambition approaches its beauty, making it one of the most compelling albums of the year.

Either side of her breakthrough debut album "Not Your Muse" (2021), Celeste has distinguished herself as one of the UK’s most expressive and emotionally intuitive vocalists, releasing numerous singles, EP's and compilations. Rooted in jazz, soul, and torch-song drama, she carries a timbre that feels both vintage and startlingly present. After the atmospheric introspection of "Not Your Muse", her work has grown increasingly cinematic, drawing from gospel, orchestral soul, and deeply textured sound design. Woman of Faces represents the maturity of an artist who now trusts nuance over spectacle and channels heartbreak, desire, and reflection through tone as much as words.

Woman of Faces is easily Celeste’s most musically accomplished album: strings glide, pianos smolder, and her voice - smoky, elastic, expressive - moves with impossible grace. Opening track "On With The Show", although excruciatingly short, soars majestically, as piano, percussion and then strings reach levels matched only by Adele in living memory. "Keep Smiling" follows, as smooth and sophisticated as 40 years single malt. Her voice glides between restraint and emotional full-tilt with ease, drawing the listener into realms of longing, memory, and self-questioning. The album’s strength lies in its restraint: nothing feels overworked, though it's pace is almost glacial, yet every chord, sigh and turn of phrase resonates.

Thematically and lyrically, Woman of Faces contemplates identity, relationships and inner conflict - how we present different faces to the world, and what remains when the masks fall away. Some songs capture that duality beautifully; others suggest it without quite resolving it, which leaves the thematic arc slightly uneven. But this vagueness also mirrors the complexity of real human emotion.

Placed against everything she’s done before, this album stands out as emotionally ambitious and musically assured. It may not answer every question it raises - but it asks them with rare subtlety and power. Its combination of vocal brilliance, atmospheric craft, and emotional honesty make it one of the year’s most compelling albums.