Little Simz: 'No Thank You'

Dec 13

Dec 13 Little Simz: 'No Thank You'

To cap off the year in style, Little Simz has dropped her new album ‘No Thank You’ with little notice or buildup, landing quietly across streaming services on Monday.

The record spans ten tracks, though wastes no time covering a lot of ground in only fifty minutes. Some of the themes explored throughout this record could only be done in such an articulate and tactical way by a wordsmith like Simz herself, and it’s evident that this body of work is a passion project.

Guiding listeners on a journey of healing, sacrifice, and acceptance, the album feels like a real character progression for Simz, following on from the Brit Award-winning ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ and its exploration of grief and heartache. Both records explore this path of self-growth and development, though with a slightly different attitude. With previous records, such as ‘Grey Area’, being almost on the offence and attack, this album feels like a peaceful resignation to the world’s issues without bowing down to them.

The opening track, ‘Angel’, reflects on the struggles she’s faced within the music industry, and the loss of her close friend Harry Uzoka. Combining a gentle beat with vocals from Cleo Sol on the chorus, the song sets the scene for a tranquil yet strong album with clear, well-expressed views. This continues in ‘Silhouette’, the third track on the record; talk of setting boundaries, letting go, and self-doubt allow Simz to express her strengths in an introspective manner, whilst being broadly relatable throughout.

‘No Merci’ serves as a nice French twist on the album’s title. The song reflects on the music industry, and the vice-like grip it can have on young artists, with exploitation and ownership of song rights causing issues with increasing frequency. The song also tackles issues surrounding racism and activism, with Simz proclaiming “You know that I'm unapologetically Black” – possibly a callback to an earlier lyric, “I’m a Black woman / and I’m a proud one” from the previous album’s ‘Introvert’.

This kind of commonality is a running theme for Simz, with references and namedrops being a heavily featured facet of her songwriting, with ‘No Thank You’ adhering to this unwritten rule. Some of these include nods to Mac Miller, Mike Skinner, Jay-Z, Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese, with far more scattered throughout the record.

Overall, the tone and cadence of the album are absolutely spot on – you’d expect no less from someone with such unparalleled penmanship skills. Closing the record on a piano ballad, ‘Control’, feels like an incredible power move, and one that comes directly from the heart. Soft and gentle in nature, it acts as a closing summary for the rest of the album. Probably the most traditional love song that Little Simz has in her back catalogue, it leaves behind the usual energy and beat that we would expect from the rest of her discography, and feels like a gentle goodbye. ‘No Thank You’ is a clear, prevailing statement that rises above the world’s problems and concentrates on the self, and does it undeniably well.