Asa, known to her parents as Bukola Elemide, grew up in Lagos, the famed Nigerian city that birthed the careers of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen. Unlike those political firebrands, though, Asa prefers to dwell more on matters of the heart. Recorded in Paris, where Asa now lives, the record is full of spare, plaintive folk and gentle R&B, at times recalling early Nelly Furtado or Sade. Asa's voice glides across the compositions, getting ragged and raspy in "Subway" and hopping across a gentle breakbeat in "No One Knows." Stylistically diverse and sonically breathtaking, Asa establishes its creator as an artist to watch.