Larissa Lambert — “Yearning”

I first found Larissa Lambert in 2021 through her cover of SWV's “Weak,” which is a funny way to discover one of the strongest voices you'll hear. Larissa can sing sing. Runs that know exactly where they're going. Control that makes the difficult parts sound suspiciously easy. The kind of voice that occasionally makes you stop listening to the song and start listening to the fact that a human body is somehow doing that.

Admittedly, Larissa tends to live a little deeper in R&B than my usual listening habits take me. Fine. Greatness does not recognize genre zoning laws. Five years after “Weak” put her on my radar, “Yearning” has me crossing the property line again. It's the title track of her debut album, a project Larissa describes as her real introduction after years of wondering whether the people who loved that cover would love whatever came next. Eventually she realized that was the wrong question. She says making Yearning meant letting go of that pressure and following what actually felt honest to her.

For the title track, honesty means wanting somebody with absolutely no interest in playing it cool. Cross the ocean. Defy your fate. Fill the tank. Love is “one soul in two” and you're already in her veins. There's something almost refreshing about hearing desire without the usual protective equipment. No strategic delay before texting back. No carefully maintained upper hand. Larissa has been waiting long enough and would like her person here immediately.

Maybe that's what yearning requires. You can keep your composure or you can cross the ocean. Larissa has made her choice.