SOLAH – Forever album review

Some drum and bass albums feel like collections of tracks. Forever feels more like someone opening a window and letting you actually see the world they have been building in private. SOLAH’s second album on Hospital Records is big, bright, emotional, and at times surprisingly deep. It is full of collaborators, but it never feels like SOLAH gets lost inside her own guest list.

That is probably the thing I noticed first. With this many names attached, it would have been easy for Forever to feel like a compilation built around one vocalist. Instead, it feels like a real artist album. SOLAH is the thread running through everything, whether the tune is sunny and soulful, darker and more introspective, or sitting somewhere in between.

The tracklist is huge without feeling bloated:

• SOLAH, Break – Forever
• SOLAH, Hugh Hardie – On Fire
• SOLAH, Makoto, Hugh Hardie, Azotix – Lovesick
• SOLAH, Arcturius – Crossroads
• SOLAH, Trail – I’ll Be There
• SOLAH, DJ Marky, Makoto – Summer Summer
• SOLAH, Hugh Hardie – Driving Me Wild
• SOLAH, Alibi – False Reality
• SOLAH, Enei – Shelter
• SOLAH, Halogenix – Want U Bad
• SOLAH, soulDR!P, Azotix – Forgotten Memories
• SOLAH, IYRE – Find Myself
• SOLAH, Aim High – If You Care
• SOLAH, Hoax – Wings

Fourteen tracks is a lot, especially in a genre where albums can sometimes feel like they are trying to be everything at once. But Forever has a clear shape to it. The first half leans into warmth, big vocals, soul, horns, and that kind of liquid joy that makes you want to hear a tune outside in the sun. The second half pulls the lights down a bit and heads into something moodier, deeper, and more reflective.

Forever starts like a love letter

The title track with Break is a perfect opener because it tells you what kind of album this is emotionally before it tells you anything else. Forever is not shy about being sincere. It has that classic Break control underneath it, but the heart of the track is SOLAH’s voice and the feeling behind it.

Knowing the title track is dedicated to her fiancé gives it another layer, but even without that context, you can hear the devotion in it. It is not just a big vocal tune for the sake of having a big vocal tune. It sounds like something written from a real place, then lifted into drum and bass by someone who knows how to make emotion feel physical.

The live rooftop version makes that even clearer. Stripped away from the usual club context, the song still holds up because the writing is there. That matters a lot on an album like this. The production is strong all over Forever, but the songs themselves need to be strong too, and the opener proves pretty quickly that they are.

The sunny first half really works

The first run of tracks has a kind of open-air energy to it. On Fire with Hugh Hardie feels bright without getting sugary. Lovesick with Makoto, Hugh Hardie and Azotix has that sweet spot where the musicality feels rich but the groove still moves properly. Crossroads with Arcturius keeps things rolling without losing the emotional thread.

This is where SOLAH’s voice really shines as the central instrument. She has a way of making drum and bass feel personal without dragging it into full ballad territory. The songs still move. They still feel playable. But they also give you something to hold onto beyond the drop.

I’ll Be There with Trail is one of the early standouts for me because it brings in that live-band feeling without making the tune feel forced. The horn energy and the warmth in the arrangement make it feel like a reminder that drum and bass can be musical in a very physical way. It does not have to choose between soul and movement.

Summer Summer sounds exactly like it should

Summer Summer with DJ Marky and Makoto is one of those titles that tells you what you are getting, and I mean that as a compliment. This tune feels bright, easy, and full of motion. DJ Marky and Makoto both have long histories with the more musical and soulful side of drum and bass, so hearing them around SOLAH’s voice makes complete sense.

It has that breezy quality where everything feels effortless, even though you know it probably took a lot of work to make it sound that natural. The drums move lightly, the melody feels warm, and SOLAH sits right in the middle of it all without over-singing. It is the kind of tune that makes the album’s first half feel like it has real lift.

Driving Me Wild with Hugh Hardie keeps that momentum going, but by that point you can already feel the album starting to prepare for a shift. The brightness is still there, but there is a little more emotional pull underneath it.

The second half gets darker without losing SOLAH

False Reality with Alibi is where Forever starts to turn a corner. It does not suddenly become a different album, but the mood definitely shifts. The low end feels heavier, the atmosphere gets a bit more shadowed, and SOLAH’s vocal starts to sit inside the darker side of the music instead of floating above bright, uplifting arrangements.

That transition is one of the things I like most about the album. It would have been easy to make Forever entirely bright and soulful, especially given how well SOLAH does that lane. But the second half gives the record more dimension. It shows that her voice can live comfortably in heavier spaces too.

Shelter with Enei is a great example of that. Enei brings that controlled, stripped-back pressure he is so good at, and SOLAH does not get swallowed by it. Instead, her vocal adds humanity to the weight. It feels like a proper meeting point between two strong identities.

Want U Bad and Wings bring the tension

Want U Bad with Halogenix is one of the more interesting moments because it leans into a harder, moodier backdrop while still keeping the vocal front and center. It is not trying to be pretty in the same way some of the early tracks are. There is more tension in it, more edge, and that makes it stand out.

Wings with Hoax feels like the wild card near the end of the album. It plays with contrast more aggressively, moving between space and release in a way that keeps you slightly off balance. That is a good thing. By the time you get to the closing stretch of a 14-track album, you need moments that keep your attention from drifting, and Wings does that well.

Forgotten Memories with soulDR!P and Azotix, Find Myself with IYRE, and If You Care with Aim High all help fill out that deeper emotional side too. They make the album feel less like a straight line and more like a full day turning into night.

It feels personal without feeling private

One of the hardest things to pull off in vocal drum and bass is making a song feel personal without making listeners feel like they are reading someone else’s diary over a beat. Forever gets that balance right most of the time. There is a lot of devotion, love, reflection, and emotional honesty here, but it still feels open enough that you can find your own way into it.

That might be SOLAH’s biggest strength across the album. Her writing feels human and direct, but not overly polished into something anonymous. You can tell these songs mean something to her, and that makes it easier to care about them as a listener.

It also helps that the producer list feels carefully chosen rather than random. Break, Makoto, Hugh Hardie, DJ Marky, Alibi, Enei, Halogenix and Hoax all bring very different energies, but they still feel connected by SOLAH’s presence. The album has range, but it does not feel like a playlist.

How it lands for me

I always come at these reviews as a fan first. I am not sitting here trying to pretend I know every studio decision that went into the album. I am asking whether the music makes me want to stay with it, whether the songs feel real, and whether the album earns its length.

Forever does. It is not a short listen, but it does not feel padded. The first half gives you the warmth and lift. The second half gives you the shadows and reflection. SOLAH’s voice ties it together in a way that makes the whole thing feel like a proper album rather than a run of singles.

If you are into the soulful side of drum and bass, this is an easy recommendation. But I also think it has enough depth and weight to reach people who usually need a little more bite in their DnB. It is emotional without being flimsy, polished without feeling fake, and personal without shutting the listener out.

Forever feels like SOLAH making a clear statement about who she is as an artist, not just who she can collaborate with. And honestly, that is what makes it stick.