Rachel Chinouriri: What a Devastating Turn of Events review – a debut that’s better than it thinks

Chinouriri is an accomplished songwriter. Ideas spill out of every crammed corner of this collection. Her often hushed husky voice, developed when trying to practise without annoying her Zimbabwean parents, isn’t for everyone. Yet there’s range to her delivery, whether dropping punchy barbs during Dumb Bitch Juice or self-excoriating on My Blood and I Hate Myself. Situationships are dissected on It Is What It Is; Never Need Me offers irresistible new wave thrills, and the remarkable title track recounts her cousin’s pregnancy and suicide over a tune that takes a hook to your brain and refuses to retract. Her next album will be even better.