Celeste Woman Of Faces
Released Nov 14, 2025 Polydor Records
Established consensus 6 professional reviews Updated Oct 1, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Celeste's Woman Of Faces arrives as a dusk-soaked, cinematic statement that foregrounds identity and reclamation while staking a claim for emotional grandeur.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
This Is Who I Am
6 critic mentions
“The closing track, ‘This Is Who I Am’, is cinematic and Bond-esque, the final unmasking of the woman of faces, reclaiming identity with quiet authority.” — Clash Music
On With The Show
5 critic mentions
“The aptly titled opening track, On With the Show, sets the stage for a theatrical musical performance” — The Skinny
Time Will Tell
5 critic mentions
“the likes of ‘Time Will Tell’ and ‘This Is Who I Am’ emerging from the shadows as triumphant glimpses of light” — DIY Magazine
Full critic consensus
Celeste's Woman Of Faces arrives as a dusk-soaked, cinematic statement that foregrounds identity and reclamation while staking a claim for emotional grandeur. Critics agree the record's slow, orchestral pacing and haunting vocal performances make it a powerful, if occasionally glacial, listening experience that rewards repeat plays. With a consensus score of 81.67 across 6 professional reviews, the critical consensus leans strongly positive: many reviewers called it an essential showcase of Celeste's vocal authority and theatrical instincts.
Across reviews, certain moments emerge as the best songs on Woman Of Faces. “On With The Show” repeatedly surfaces as an arresting opener, while the title track “Woman Of Faces” is widely praised as the album's cinematic centerpiece. Critics also highlight “Time Will Tell” and “This Is Who I Am” for marrying intimate phrasing to sweeping strings, and “People Always Change” and “Keep Smiling” for quietly devastating turns. Reviewers consistently note themes of identity, heartbreak and survival, with orchestral arrangements, retro-jazz touches and subtle electronic flourishes framing Celeste's reclamation narrative.
While some critics caution that the uniform slow tempo and theatricality can make the record challenging to consume in one sitting, most agree the album's highs reward close listening. Whether compared to a mini Bond soundtrack or a study in vocal-led drama, Woman Of Faces confirms Celeste's maturity as an artist and offers standout tracks that answer the question of what to stream first. Below, the full reviews unpack where the record's risks and rewards lie.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
On With The Show
Keep Smiling
Woman Of Faces
Happening Again
Time Will Tell
People Always Change
Sometimes
Could Be Machine
This Is Who I Am
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Celeste unfolds a dramatic, cinematic second album with Woman Of Faces, and the best songs here - notably On With The Show, Time Will Tell and This Is Who I Am - are where her voice and the sweeping strings meet in full bloom. Jamieson writes with breathless admiration, tracing how the opener On With The Show is a "decadent build" that sets the stage, while the likes of Time Will Tell and This Is Who I Am surface as "triumphant glimpses of light". The result is an album born from rupture that still insists on grandeur, emotional clarity and moments of real catharsis.
Key Points
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The best song is the opener, On With The Show, because its decadent, cinematic build sets the album's emotional and musical tone.
Themes
Ho
Critic's Take
Celeste feels like a force of nature throughout Woman Of Faces, the reviewer insisting you might need to turn the volume up to fall head-over-heels. The title track is hailed as a "brilliantly cinematic" centerpiece, its heavenly voice against orchestral backdrop making it one of the best tracks on Woman Of Faces. At the same time the intimate “This Is Who I Am” and the bossa nova-tinged “Time Will Tell” are singled out as among the best songs on the album for their subtle piano, soft percussion and fresh R&B phrasing. Lighter moments like “Keep Smiling” and its bright acoustic melodies prove the album's range while electronic touches nod to past collaborations, rounding out why these are the best tracks on Woman Of Faces.
Key Points
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The title track is best for its cinematic orchestral arrangement and Celeste's "heavenly" voice.
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The album's core strengths are Celeste’s timeless vocal prowess and a blend of orchestral, soul and subtle electronic textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Celeste’s Woman of Faces feels like a theatrical unfolding, its best songs revealing themselves across repeat listens. The reviewer singles out Time Will Tell and This Is Who I Am as must-hear moments, while the title track’s strings and keys stand particularly standout. Overall, the album cements Celeste’s emotive, haunting voice and rewards attentive listening.
Key Points
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Time Will Tell is highlighted as the top recommended listen and a rewarding repeat-listen.
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The album’s strengths are Celeste’s haunting, emotive vocals, theatrical arrangements and occasional bold experimentation.
Themes
Critic's Take
Celeste's Woman Of Faces is somber and glacial yet often sumptuous, and the best songs - notably Keep Smiling and People Always Change - stop you dead in your tracks. The album favours slow, orchestrated arrangements that let Celeste's phrasing and fragile-to-powerful voice do the work, making tracks like On With The Show and Time Will Tell stand out for their emotional weight. While the near-uniform pacing makes the record challenging to consume in one sitting, the individual songs reward close listening and mark the best tracks on Woman Of Faces as quietly devastating.
Key Points
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The best song(s) showcase Celeste’s vocal control and orchestral arrangements that stop the listener dead.
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The album’s core strengths are sumptuous orchestration, vocal nuance, and a cohesive song-cycle exploring heartbreak and social pressures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Celeste makes Woman Of Faces feel like a mini Bond soundtrack, smoky and cinematic, and the best songs are those that marry that grandeur to plainspoken feeling - opener On With The Show and closer This Is Who I Am stand out. The record trades hooky pop for lush arrangements and theatrical drama, so the best tracks on Woman Of Faces are the ones that let her dusky, direct voice do the heavy lifting. Oddball moments like Could Be Machine surprise, but it is the sweeping, Bassey-tinged finish that cements Celeste's emotional authority. Overall, these best tracks show why the album works as evening music for drawn curtains and empowered solitude.
Key Points
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The best song is "This Is Who I Am" because its Bassey-style, full-bodied declaration gives the album its emotional climax.
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The album’s core strengths are cinematic arrangements, dusky direct vocals, and a cohesive breakup-and-solitude theme.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a voice that is intimate and unflinching, Celeste maps an arc on Woman Of Faces from fracture to reclamation, and the best songs prove the point. The cinematic opener On With The Show immediately foregrounds her raspy, recognisable voice and stakes its claim as one of the album's best tracks. The title track Woman Of Faces is the record's beating heart, interrogating identity with the same immediacy that made its Glastonbury performance resonate. Elsewhere, cathartic shifts like Could Be Machine and the quietly gut-wrenching Time Will Tell show why these are the songs listeners ask about when searching for the best tracks on Woman Of Faces.
Key Points
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The title track is the album's emotional centre, combining cinematic immediacy with questions of identity.
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The album's strengths lie in its intimate storytelling, cinematic production, and a throughline of survival and reclamation.