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At just nine tracks, ”with all due respect” is lean and intentional. The opener “Bite Me,” produced by fellow butch lesbian Alma Bergman Byström, sets the tone with velvet defiance and restraint as a spoken-word flex that feels like walking into a smoky room with someone already mid-conversation. The track sets the tone to be sultry, observational, emotionally fluent and never looks back.
Sound-wise, it’s lush and layered. Gospel harmonies, jazzy keys, stripped-down 808s all moving with a kind of slow urgency. “fxckin” is sensual but never over-indulgent; “talk you through it” (featuring FLO) balances vocal intimacy with a beat that feels like late-night London. And then there’s “worst behaviour,” a standout with Kehlani that’s cheeky, minimalist, and undeniably a track that could loop for hours and still sound effortless.
What makes with all due respect so compelling is kwn’s control. Her voice glides across these songs with a nonchalance that belies precision. One moment, she’s crooning in a near-whisper. The next, she’s flipping into a falsetto. Nothing is accidental.
Lyrically, kwn stays close to home: romantic missteps, emotional boundaries, the strange politics of honesty. “don’t waste your time waiting for me,” she sings on the closer “war to be over,” “like waiting for this war to be over.” It’s a devastating final note with wider unrest. Her writing captures both the micro and macro: personal heartbreak wrapped in social fatigue.
This isn’t an album that’s going to shout for its place in the R&B canon. But it will be remembered maybe not immediately by everyone, but deeply by those who need it. In an industry often built on spectacle, kwn is playing the long game. With all due respect she’s just getting started.
