8/10

Becca James’ 'God in Chains (Vol. 1)' arrives like a midnight ritual. Her debut album moves with the weight of someone dragging old shadows toward the light, then watching them turn into something unexpectedly beautiful. It’s alt-pop that is intimate, cinematic, and trembling at the edges with the electricity of becoming.

Across the album, she leans into a voice that feels carved from both silk and smoke. The production gives every whisper the reverence of a spell and every chorus the force of a rising tide. This is music made in widescreen, but sung from inside a beating heart.

While much of the tracks have been released over the past year, they take on new dimension here. The title-track stands as the album’s gravitational centre, a slow ignition of aching self-reflection that eventually catches fire. 'Holy Bed' stirs with devotional tension, equal parts tenderness and surrender, while 'Revolution' pulses like a heartbeat finally learning its own rhythm again.

But the two new pieces deepen the world she’s building. 'Begging for Love' is raw and trembling, a plea sung from the edge of a cracked mirror. While 'Echo Chamber', featuring Mark Stoney, folds shadows and light into one another, a hypnotic push-and-pull between solitude and connection. Together, they complete the emotional arc that this is an album about dismantling the walls you built to survive, and choosing to walk out of the ruins anyway.

What makes 'God in Chains (Vol. 1)' so striking is its fearlessness. The record flows like the score to a personal metamorphosis, each track a stepping stone from collapse toward clarity. It’s deeply spiritual without pretending to be holy, utterly vulnerable without losing its strength.

As she prepares to bring these songs to intimate rooms across the UK, the project’s soul becomes even clearer. 'God in Chains (Vol. 1)' marks the beginning of an artist stepping into her full power, shedding pieces of an old life to make space for the next chapter. The companion volume may be titled 'The Alchemy', but the transformation has already begun.

Tickets for her forthcoming tour are available HERE.