Lost & Found

Lost & Found is the debut studio album by English singer songwriter Jorja Smith. It was released on 8 June 2018 by FAMM, with distribution from The Orchard. Following a move to London in 2015, Smith began focusing on her musical aspirations. The following year, Smith released the single "Blue Lights" on SoundCloud. The song was picked up by Stormzy, Skrillex and notably Drake, who would go on to feature Smith on his playlist, More Life (2017). The rise in popularity led Smith to release her debut EP, Project 11 (2016) and begin work on her debut studio album. Writing and recording for the album took place over five years in London and Los Angeles. The sessions featured contributions from producers such as Jeff Kleinman, Michael Uzowuru, Tom Misch, Maaike Lebbing, among others.
Upon release, Lost & Found received acclaim from critics, who praised the album's composition, style, lyrical content and vocal performance. Lost & Found debuted and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the regions R&B charts, where it was eventually certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 60,000 copies. Internationally the album performed moderately making appearances on charts in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It was supported by the singles: "Blue Lights", "Where Did I Go?", "Teenage Fantasy" and "February 3rd".
Background
In 2015 at the age of 18, Smith moved to London and was living with her aunt and uncle, working as a Starbucks barista, spending breaks recording lyrics into Voicenotes on her phone. Her move to London inspired the album's title, Smith travelled to Ladbroke Grove and had a realisation that she felt lost, yet knew exactly where she wanted to be: "I feel like wherever I go I’m still quite lost, but there’s a sense of ‘found’ in that I'm right where I want to be. Lost and found is how I feel.” During college Smith was researching racial discrimination towards students, which would influence "Blue Lights". The song was released to Soundcloud in early 2016 and featured a Dizzee Rascal sample. The song was picked up by Stormzy and Skrillex upon release, and in March 2017 Smith met with Drake to record vocals for his ‘More Life’ playlist.
Smith followed an unconventional style when creating the album. Smith had already written all the album's songs before she decided she wanted to release an album. Her label suggested she pick songs from a list she had already worked on and create the album from them. Unlike other albums Lost & Found has no concept and instead was a collection of songs written by Smith from the age of 16 to 21. Smith co-wrote "The One" with her boyfriend and producer Joel Compass. The night before the song was conceived Smith and Compass decided not to make their relationship official as Smith was set to go on tour to America. This led Smith and Compass to create "The One" which discusses meeting the right person at the wrong time.