Always bringing effervescently quirky, original and experimental work, this is an especially vibrant, fizzing, percussive, witty and superb LP – and surely the very best yet by the excellent Liverpool electro-pop trio of Emily Lansley, Luciana Mercer, and Rebecca Hawley, and includes guests She Drew The Gun. Its lyrical themes are as suggested by the title - ironic struggles, hopes and emotions an increasingly chaotic and fragmented virtual culture, but musically this is an especially playful and clever release, packed with sonic tricks, beeps and clicks, changes of pace and restless enjoyable pop experiment, aided also by their longtime friend and producer Joseph Wills who has been working them for their 15 years as a band.
The style-setting, fabulously crafted and catchy U F33L M3, for example (“say what you mean, say what is real”) is about being open and radically yourself, and feels instantly different with its staccato, lo-fi percussion, funky jagged basslines, a sound that constantly evolves with synth bursts and oddball wonkiness and vocal harmonies gradually shifting the harmonic undercurrent and mood. Opener Let’s Go, featuring She Drew The Gun’s Louisa Roach, is a whirlwind, merry-go-round of perky rhythms, keyboard riffs clever candy-pop leaps into wonky psychedelia. Found You also is brilliant infectiously agile and superbly strange, with tinkling percussive and woozy otherworld moments interweaving through unison and overdubbed vocals and delicious synth textures. In fact the entire album is like this – a constant adventure of infinite musical jest and catchy danceability. Flavours of Prince, Scritti Politti, Cameo, Basement Jaxx, 90s Dance, Daphni, Beth Ditto, Girls Aloud and much more flicker up in this truly breathtaking, brilliantly original synth-pop concoction. The many other song highlights including the perky plip-plop, hip-hop-pop of Dancing In The Rain featuring Meduulla, as well as DNA, GLO, and Seeing Stars, but every one is a sparkly gem. Their tangible sense of joy is also reflected in the trio’s live performances, a triangulation of moving parts - tracks, live instruments and singing, as the colour, costume changes, silly dance routines and mischievous fun. In short, one of the very best and most original albums of the year, all a-glo(w), and out on their new independent label G-IRL (Girl in Real Life).
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