(Ashtown Lane)
The Irish singer seizes artistic control in an album charged with heated possibilities, sensual new love and sexual self-belief
On the opener of Mt Pleasant, her debut album as Cosha, the Irish pop singer Cassia O’Reilly sings about our spinning planet with contentment and resignation. “Leave it, let it turn,” she coos over the cushioned synths and come-to-bed beats of Berlin Air .
This fulfilment has been hard won. Previously releasing a frenetic blend of rave-inflected R&B and elasticated pop under the name Bonzai, she scored herself a major label record deal that soured, leaving her artistic vision compromised. Striking out alone, she changed her name and started from scratch. The result is Mt Pleasant, a luscious, confident and carefree record that could only have been crafted by someone in control of their artistic intentions.