Have You Heard... Joy Crookes 'Juniper'?

Album artwork by David Shrigley (@davidshrigley - IG), album cover reproduced not-for-profit, in compliance with Australian copyright law

Coming from someone who had never engaged with her music prior, ‘Juniper’ by Joy Crookes served as a pretty refreshing album for me. Released on the 19th of September, 2025, ‘Juniper,’ comes as a follow-up to her debut album, ‘Skin,’ which was released in 2021. Currently speaking, the mainstream pop landscape has seen a steady rise in more soul and jazz-infused music, spearheaded by British artists like Olivia Dean, Raye and Lola Young. As a South-London native, Crookes fits in quite nicely amongst those artists listed just above, and ‘Juniper’ only adds to this rising pop trend through its soul/contemporary jazz foundation.

Genre

Considering that this release draws from so many different genres like soul, contemporary jazz, as well as, modern R&B, I was majorly impressed with how balanced the production was on ‘Juniper.’ The album features a really smooth blend of retro soul, combined with spouts of really sleek, modern production. For me, my favourite example of this was on the track ‘Pass The Salt (featuring Vince Staples).’

Production

The song opens with a retro-sounding funk sample, before transitioning to a percussion-heavy trip-hop beat. With the drums and bass taking precedence rhythmically, this simple combination allowed Crookes, as well as, Staples to really stand out with their verses. Another track that highlighted this production was ‘Mathematics’ (featuring Kano). This track had warm strings, some muffled drums and a really nice piano melody; all three combining to create a very mellow, lo-fi vibe. As seen similarly within ‘Pass The Salt,’ this mellow vibe kept Crookes’ vocals and Kano’s bars firmly in the centre. Crookes’ vocal performance really stood out on this track - resonant, velvety and packed so very with full soul. 

Vocals

That wasn’t just a one-time thing, however, as Crookes’ vocals stood out on essentially every track featured. ‘Carmen’ was my personal standout, vocally, featuring some absolutely gorgeous vocals from Crookes. On this track, it felt like Crookes was really able to lean back on the rhythm section’s slower, staccato-based pace, as it just sounded so effortless the way she moved from vocal run-to-vocal run. Crookes has these super smoky and expressive textures to her voice that makes it really easy for the listener to feel emotionality during her songs. Another track that really highlighted Crookes insane vocal presence, was ‘Forever.’ I think it’s pretty impossible to not feel something when listening to this track. Crookes sings at a relatively more quiet volume on this entry, but despite this, her vocals are still at the height of her powers. At the end of some phrases, she draws out these lyrics that begin to shake, and every time I heard them, the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up. 

Lyricism

I must say, however, that wasn’t just because of the vocals, as the main themes surrounding this project also carry a super high degree of emotionality. Love, heartbreak, and self-acceptance served as some of the key themes that I picked up across my listens. To reference ‘Forever’ again, lyrics like “So whether you’re with me or not, remember that we traded love, and that’s forever,” and “Six feet under wrapped in white, watched your body sleep tight, tomorrow never guarantees, but you’re alive in me” go really far in immersing the listener into Crookes’ head. To go along with those lyrics in particular, I found her honesty very disarming too, most evidently on the track ‘Paris.’ When Crookes sings “When it comes to pride, I’d raise my heart to a girl or guy, I believed, I believed I was a sinner,” I loved how candid Crookes was in reflecting upon her own sexual orientation. By using personal, more direct examples from her life to illustrate these emotions and themes, I thought Crookes was extremely effective in getting the listener to feel emotion throughout ‘Juniper.’

Questionable Pacing

While, in my opinion, ‘Juniper’ rarely stumbled, I did think this high degree of emotionality was disrupted at some points due to some questionable pacing. I thought the tracks “I Know You’d Kill” and “First Last Dance” could have been placed elsewhere on the album to circumvent this, especially “First Last Dance” in particular. Not only did I think this track was generic, I also thought it was way too dance-y considering ‘Juniper’s’ core subject matter. Outside of this, I felt that ‘Juniper’s’ pacing and clarity worked well, ultimately showcasing an artist refining her sound instead of completely changing it.

Altogether, as a first-time listener, I felt that ‘Juniper’ worked well as both an introduction and invitation to Joy Crookes as an artist. This release was incredibly easy to listen to, a point only made better when considering you don’t need prior context coming in. All in all, I thought Crookes definitely proved herself a soulful communicator with enough nuance to stand apart from her peers within the British contemporary soul-based pop circle.