Skin (Joy Crookes album)

At the 2020 Brit Awards, Joy Crookes was nominated for the Rising Star Award, which predicts the biggest upcoming British musicians.[6] In September of that year, she gained moderate mainstream attention with the release of her cover version of The Wannadies' 1994 single "You & Me Song", which was featured in an O2 TV advertisement,[7] consequently entering both the UK Singles Downloads and the UK Singles Sales charts.[8][9] In June 2021, Crookes released the single "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" and its accompanying music video.[10] The track debuted atop the UK Asian Music Top 40 chart,[11] while the music video was nominated for Best Pop Video - UK, Best Wardrobe Styling in a Video and Best Hair & Makeup in a Video at the 2021 UK Music Video Awards.[12]

In August 2021, Crookes announced the release of Skin, and released its title track alongside a music video as the second single.[2] "When You Were Mine" was released later that month as the third single and reached number one on the UK Asian Top 40.[13] Its accompanying music video was released in early October 2021.[14] "Trouble" was released as the fourth single on 13 October 2021, two days before the release of the album.[15]

Described by Clash as "orchestral soul-jazz",[16] Skin is primarily a modern soul[17] record with elements of R&B,[17][16] jazz,[16] pop,[17] neo-soul[16] and trip-hop,[18][19] and is characterized by its orchestral string arrangements.[18][16] There are also a number of piano ballads on the album.[18] Inspired largely by her own British-Irish-Bangladeshi heritage,[20] Crookes lyrically explores themes of young adulthood,[17] heartbreak,[17] and identity.[21][16] In a post on social media, Crookes wrote "This is the proudest work I have made to date. It is an autobiographical body of work, the album consists of songs I wrote when I was 15 up until 22. This is an album about my identity."[21]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	89/100[22]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	9/10[16]
DIY	[23]
Gigwise	[18]
The Guardian	[19]
NME	[17]
The Times	[24]

Skin received widespread acclaim in reviews from contemporary music critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album has an average score of 89, based on 4 reviews.[22]

DIY rated the album five out of five stars and described it as "a rich, varied and considered body of work [...] worthy of elevating the singer into the realm of Britain's classiest chart-bothering talents", noting that it "does everything a debut should, dipping into multiple pools but uniting them all with a consistent outlook and a clear voice."[23] Apart from praising its sociopolitical subject matter, Alim Kheraj of The Guardian described the record as "vibrant, urgent and brimming with life", and wrote that "if the point of a debut album is getting to know an artist, then Skin is a masterclass."[25] Writing for NME, Sophie Williams noted that it "rises from the most intimate pockets of Crookes's life: the emotional turmoil around growing up, heartbreak, forgiveness, and relationships that don't offer the sanctuary they promise."[17] In a review for Clash, Hannah Browne described Skin as "a candid, soulful exploration of identity" with "13 smooth jams [that] showcase Joy Crookes not only as a vocalist or candid writer but as the new face of British soul."[16]

Blessed with the kind of earthy, jazzy vocals that immediately ground her songs with brevity and presence, [Crookes] communicates a community's worth of life lessons in thirteen songs. Stapled together with catchy piano riffs, brassy interjections and soaring string sections, Skin proves Crookes a competent producer, singer, songwriter, and overall artist. [...] She's established a strong musical identity, an introspective yet witty voice, and some important messages.

— Alex Rigotti in a review of Skin for Gigwise[18]