Clash Magazine awards Syd’s new album, ‘Beard’, 8/10, describing it as a confident and mature R&B record shaped by reflection, love and self-assessment. The review argues that it strengthens Syd’s solo identity while retaining artistic ambition, presenting her domestic happiness and recent marriage as context without suggesting her songwriting has become less sharp.

The album moves through club-focused R&B, 2000s-inspired production, bossa-inflected pop and more sparse funk, with songs including ‘Walls’, ‘Callin’, ‘Jasmin 17’ and ‘2 Many Days’. Guest appearances from Big Sean, Jordan Ward, Blu june and James Fauntleroy are praised as serving the songs rather than overshadowing Syd, whose career spans Odd Future, The Internet and two decades in American music.