When we meet ELIZA on A Sky Without Stars, it’s with a whisper. A looping, driving introduction to ‘Straight Talker’, the album’s opener, shows that the London singer does not need to rush, or even need to be heard clearly.

The vocals on ‘A Sky’, as well as 2018’s ‘A Real Romantic’, are intentionally hushed all through the album. Tortured lyrics of nocturnal love are mixed in deeply, stepping back into line with the other instruments on each track. It’s been a trait of ELIZA’s music ever since a stylistic shift that took place following her last album as Eliza Doolittle. The woman that now stands before a depleted yet more rabid crowd seems more true to herself and more capable.

The songs on A Sky Without Stars stand on their own, but there is a distinctive feeling when listening to the album that this is to be listened to in full. Rhythm conjoins between tracks, bass lines are equally pulsing and soulful, and the mood depicts a nighttime walk alongside foxes and twitching streetlights. There’s a place that A Sky Without Stars sends you to, but it doesn’t feel contrived. It feels natural.

Standout tracks like ‘Heat of the Moon’ and ‘Everywhere I’ll Ever Be’ are no exception to this. Songs like these sound live yet digitised, crisp yet loose, loud yet quiet.

The production for the entire album comes from Phairo, responsible for much of 2018’s ‘A Real Romantic’, as well as tracks from Bruno Major and Sam Wills. For many, much of the album’s appeal will come from this swinging, pulsating instrumentation. With ELIZA’s sultry melodies bubbling beneath the surface, Phairo’s pieces regularly take centre stage, and it’s safe to say that the project benefits from it.

It’s often much braver to make this decision. To step back and let the music lead, as a talented singer and songwriter. For ELIZA, her style - which she is cementing as a bold idiosyncrasy - demands replay value not because it begs to be replayed, but because it doesn’t demand your attention.

What A Sky Without Stars gifts us with, can be boiled down to an irreplaceable feeling of soul. The foot-tapping, transformative, time-loses-all-meaning kind of soul. ELIZA continues to craft music which is subdued and gentle, but in a way that feels wholly true to the artist and her feelings.