Sienna Spiro's debut album Visitor arrives amid sky-high expectations, but the young British singer delivers a merely competent collection that fails to match the hype. Despite hints of greatness, the album lacks vocal agility and lyrical subtlety, according to a review in Capitol.
Background and Rise to Fame
Spiro, whose father Glenn Spiro is a famed Hatton Garden jeweller and mother Arabella is a high society figure who reportedly mixed with royalty, broke through on TikTok before hitting the UK singles chart in 2024. She has since scored three US Hot 100 hits. Her ultra-traditionalist sound has drawn comparisons to Adele, but her debut album does not live up to that potential.
Album Highlights and Weaknesses
The album largely comprises Whitney-style piano ballads sung with a grittier and less agile voice. Spiro specialises in lyrical stubbornness, painting herself as a charming fighter refusing to let an ex get away. This works on the soaring and cathartic Die on This Hill, but on We're Not in Love and Great Expectation, it becomes exhausting.
Other tracks include full-band torch songs with intermittent signs of greatness. This Is My House, produced by soul revivalist Leon Michels, implies a different kind of album and is an unabashed highlight, though it features an unearned sample of civil rights legend Nikki Giovanni. The deeply misguided He's Not My Baby, I'm His, written about a relationship with a man "twice my age," struggles under bad-taste lyrics like "No one feels quite as seen as when a child gets chosen."
Conclusion
Excess is a common theme across Visitor. With more subtlety, Spiro's "new Adele" tag might actually stick, but for now, the album is merely competent pastiche.
