Excavating truth and feeling, Marie Dahlstrøm's debut is filled with R&B splendour

Exporting her feelings into this fool-proof formula, Dahlstrøm, has brought all she’s learned, and now it’s time for all that hard work to come together in the form of her debut, a 14-track strong testament to everything she’s has built.

Naturally, it opens straight into some delicate R&B, which washes with the deft touch of those jazz influences, keeping a nice undercurrent going beneath the stream.

Tackling everything from the sanctity of home (“Summer Evenings”), love (“No Pair Without 2”), and a fear of losing someone to a detrimental effect (“Like Sand”), Dahlstrøm's ability to craft a scene with the mixture of beats and electronic layers is a true strength that empowers as much as it offers understanding.

The sultry, laid-back ways of Dahlstrøm's working manages to evoke emotion through every aspect, creating an album sure to bring some form of deliverance in any time of need, even on “A Loveletter - An Improvisation” which reaches deep into the jazz realms filled with off-the-cuff vocal improvs and whittling piano lines

Collaboration also plays a big part of Like Sand; be it the guitar of Beau Diako, or the similarly softened soulful vocals of San Franciscan Jeremy Passion, each guest spot is carefully chosen to accentuate the overarching heart-on-sleeve theme of the record, while rooting deep into one of Dahlstrøm's key focuses: to support upcoming artists, creating this organic nature reminiscent of a home of her own design.

This is the kind of album that wants to soundtrack your life. To be there in those moments of reflection or immediate understanding, Dahlstrøm builds a vivid picture to offer escape when needed, be it with her soaring, searching vocals or the gently lapping R&B, Like Sand is an offering that, nine years in the making, has presented an artist who’s rooted in where she wants to be, with the ability to examine not just how she wishes to sound, but just what she wants from her career.