Few modern artists can match Anne-Marie Nicholson when it comes to delivering pop as both a singalong euphoric force and a vehicle for deeper, darker personal truths. That was very much the case from the jump—as evidenced by her star-making turn alongside Sean Paul on “Rockabye”, Clean Bandit’s indomitable, dancehall-tinged blast of unlikely floor-filling socio-realism. But, commendably, since first breaking through as one of the mid-to-late-2010s most coveted featured vocalists (notably loaning her formidable pipes to David Guetta on the glitchy, yearning “Don’t Leave Me Alone”), this Essex native hasn’t been afraid to bare even more of her soul as a solo act. “Perfect to Me” turns relatable body hang-ups into a skipping, irresistible R&B anthem, “2002”—written with friend and kindred pop spirit Ed Sheeran—is a warm breeze of evocative nostalgia, and the skittering hip-hop and triumphal, liberated attitude of “Birthday” laid ground for the levelling up of 2021’s Therapy.