High Expectations is a stunning statement of intent from Mabel. It’s a record - and a state-of-mind, in many ways - that she has worked towards her whole life: even the title itself has been hiding in plain sight (Mabel got it tattooed phonetically on her neck when she thought of it two years ago). Here, then, is an ambitious body of work from an increasingly fearless young artist, which explores the multiplicity of expectations (as a woman; in love; of others; and ultimately of yourself). What’s emerged as High Expectations is an empowering, uplifting and disarmingly candid record, which tells the next chapter not only in Mabel’s own extraordinary life-story, but - like those records which shaped her, The Writing’s On The Wall or The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – also seeks to tell those stories of so many others.