Heather Sinclair spent the pandemic studying a sci-fi novel that encapsulated their feeling of disconnection and left them searching for the consolation of a separate airplane of existence—“the permission to think about leaving,” as a bio notes. Exit Simulation, her first full-length album below the identify Niecy Blues, is a layered dream state of prismatic guitar and synths along with her sturdy, floaty harmonies at its nucleus. In a nourishing assertion of ambient, operatic R&B, Blues searches for deeper which means as she stumbles gracefully in the direction of enlightenment in a free-flowing but centered album that opens up like night-blooming jasmine.
The title observe is soothing, layers wisping over one another with the delicacy of chiffon; when she sings “I get drained, I get drained,” it’s not a grievance however an remark of serene gentleness, as if she is granting herself leeway to lie down. She displays energy in softness, small guitar melodies drifting into dub-style drums as she whispers, “It’s simpler to lie.” That energy resides inside their voice and the way rigorously they will management it. It’s apparent she will be able to sing with brawn when she desires, as she does on “U Care,” however on Exit Simulation she typically retains her honey tones below an ambient shroud, a measure of restraint that retains the album on an excellent keel. “U Care” ends with a pattern of what sounds to be a church service, with a person backed by gospel harmonies belts powerfully; she has devoted the track to her “grandaddy Willie Wrisper who has transitioned out of this earthly airplane,” and describes the observe as an “exploration of sorrow… of going below… then drowning… then listening to the faintest whisper. I simply wanted a whisper.”
Exit Simulation’s gauzy nature mimics the liminal area of prayer, throughout which an individual appeals to that which can’t be seen, however felt. It’s meditative however has explosive moments of pleasure. “Soma” unfurls into a formidable little bit of full-band jazz improv, together with vocals and saxophone from the Chicago musician KeiyaA, and lovely flute and keyboard trills from Aisha Mars and Qur’an Shaheed, respectively. By means of it, she sings a mantra in crescendo: “Simple come, simple go/I need it to move,” maybe invoking a Buddhistic songwriting course of, after which, “If it’s not meant to be, I’ll enable it to depart and be at peace.”
