Celeste – Female of Many Faces

      A perfectly executed second album...

      13 · 11 · 2025

      After a substantial hiatus filled with personal and professional challenges, Celeste makes her return with a sophomore album that is profoundly intimate and beautifully self-affirming. ‘Woman of Faces’ explores the experience of losing love, identity, and control, followed by a subtle reclamation. This marks her first album since 2021’s ‘Not Your Muse’, the Mercury-nominated, chart-topping debut that established her as Britain’s next significant soul voice. This release comes five years after Celeste was honored with the BRITs Rising Star award, and it’s evident she carries the burden of those expectations. Born out of heartbreak, industry pressure, and self-doubt, the album is rooted in resilience. Her determination forms the emotional foundation of ‘Woman of Faces’, a record shaped by fractures, lending it even more strength.

      The album begins with ‘On With The Show’, a cinematic ballad led by piano that prominently features Celeste’s raspy, unmistakable voice. Co-written with Matt Maltese, the song has her confronting heartbreak while gathering the courage to move forward. The turmoil of being in a relationship with a partner struggling with addiction permeates the album, infusing the sorrow with a raw honesty. In ‘Keep Smiling’, Celeste reveals the dehumanizing pressure of expectations, equating a forced smile to a polished trophy. This track reinforces the album’s central theme: the “Woman of Faces” who performs strength while wrestling with grief and public scrutiny. Throughout these early songs, the album holds up a mirror to a woman compelled to wear masks both in love and within the music industry.

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      ‘Woman of Faces’, the title track, stands out as the album's emotional core. It dramatically questions identity and selfhood, with its immediate impact during her performance at Glastonbury 2025 expertly captured in the studio version. ‘Happening Again’ features gentle guitar and piano, quietly revealing vulnerability, while ‘Time Will Tell’ serves as the album's emotional heart, understated yet deeply affecting. ‘People Always Change’ evokes the essence of her earlier viral hit ‘Strange’, almost acting as a continuation, concluding with the haunting line “I thought I was nearly there”, a moment heightened during her performance on Later… With Jools Holland. Throughout, production by Jeff Bhasker and Beach Noise adds a polished touch without sacrificing intimacy, blending elements of soul, jazz, and even rock ‘n’ roll into a cinematic backdrop.

      ‘Could Be Machine’ completely shifts the energy of the album, acting as a cathartic release where anger and rebellion intertwine with soulful and rock influences. The final track, ‘This Is Who I Am’, is cinematic and reminiscent of a Bond theme, representing the ultimate unmasking of the woman of faces, reclaiming her identity with quiet strength. Though comprised of only nine tracks, the album feels complete, presenting a full arc from despair to affirmation. Its brevity contributes to its power: an emotional expedition through heartbreak, self-discovery, and resilience. ‘Woman of Faces’ is an album born from heartbreak, showcasing that Celeste’s quiet fire continues to burn fiercely beneath the masks.

      8/10

      Words: Amelia Thompson

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