Dua Lipa goes back to the future on near-perfect album No 2
British pop artist Dua Lipa’s second album almost foresaw the future: it’s the kind of upbeat, positive music the world needs now.
POP
Future Nostalgia
Dua Lipa
Warner
On the second album by British pop belle Dua Lipa, angular disco beats meet squelchy synthesiser trickery that Giorgio Moroder would be proud of. Future Nostalgia is sexy, empowered and referential to the past few decades of pop without ever being deferential. The title track smacks of Blondie’s mish-mash of talk-rap, disco and hip-hop. Lead single Don’t Start Now rides on the glittery coat-tails of the Supremes and the Jackson Five while sprinkling a dose of Madonna’s pouty attitude into an ode to an ex-lover. Samples from Olivia
Newton-John’s Physical and Need You Tonight by INXS are woven seamlessly into the neon glam fabric of this early contender for album of the year. Dua Lipa has excelled beyond being the pretty sidekick to DJ collaborators to establish herself among pop royalty, with the 80s aerobics-meets-Diana Ross-at-Studio 54 aesthetic to cement her status as The New Kylie. This is the sound of dance music that French and Italian electronic acts have successfully mined for decades – think Hot Chip, Justice and Simian Mobile Disco – while also offering a sense of kitsch for those who are clever enough to place the nostalgic references. Slinking in like a cat that just ate your pet parrot, Pretty Please seduces with its digital finger clicks, twangy bass and the plea, “trickle down my spine / Every single night, I need your hands on me”. In the same vein, Good In Bed and Boys Will Be Boys appeal to women’s desire to dance off break-up trauma. Love Again cleverly rides on the memorable refrain from White Town’s 1997 hit, Your Woman; you’ll know it the moment it kicks in, even if that title doesn’t mean much. The lush songwriting and production, which takes no shortcuts in throwing in as many instruments and orchestral flourishes as possible, almost foresaw the future. This is the album the world needs now, as many listeners want to transport themselves to a time when it was all fishnet gloves, diamante headbands, sparkly flared disco pantsuits and permed ponytails. Remember when heartbreak was romantic and ultimately love wins in the end? This is the kind of album your older sister was listening to late at night on her Walkman (remember those, too?). Escape into the auditory realm of a Future Nostalgic disco dance party.
Cat Woods
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INDIE POP/ELECTRONIC
Look At Us Now Dad
Banoffee
Dot Dash
The ascent of Martha Brown from indie wunderkind to expat glitch-pop explorer has been fascinating. Across two EPs, a string of singles and multiple collaborations, Banoffee has carved a deeper niche with every release. In turn, she’s forged a quintessential and personal sound, paring bubbly production and vocoder sheen with lyrical introspect and vulnerability. On her debut album, this progressive artistic vision culminates in a work that’s equal parts catchy and cathartic. Star power from guests such as King Princess never takes Brown out of the picture, especially when she lays everything bare on the stark, confessional Permission or the album’s various interludes — normally skippable but, here, essential pillars. Look at Us Now Dad is a fruitful experiment in both tension and release.
David James Young
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FOLK/WORLD
Hypernova
Jiggy
Big Beat Music
Blending jigs and reels and traditional Celtic instruments with clubland beats and synths has been done to varying degrees by the likes of Shooglenifty and Afro Celt Sound System. But the mercurial collective known as Jiggy has taken the formula a stage further with its second studio album on four tracks by adroitly overlaying Irish and Indian vocals and improvised instrumentation. Elsewhere, the band adds Gaelic rap to the mix, while several songs featuring Jiggy’s fiddle-playing female singer display a sharp contemporary lyrical edge, one expressing concern about Ireland’s borders post-Brexit. Stripping back to vocals and bodhran drum strikes the requisite sad feel in an American Civil War song. A cover of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s instrumental, Music For a Found Harmonium, is less convincing.
Tony Hillier
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ELECTRONIC
C()D3X
The Kite String Tangle
Warner
The lead single from Danny Harley’s second LP might, like the album itself, be awkwardly named, but there’s no confusion where C()D3X is aimed. Having immersed himself in Berlin’s famed club scene for six months, the Brisbane producer has set his sights on the dancefloor, embracing a darker sound that is nicely balanced with his enduring electro-pop sensibilities and lyrical talents. Killing Time is a great example, as Eliott’s sweet vocal contrasts with layered, garage-inspired production. Elsewhere, Ghost Noise is euphoric, instrumental bliss with a dark heart, while the title track combines broken beats with a similarly ominous bassline and urgent vocal. Latest single North is anthemic, as Harley blends a killer vocal hook with shuffling beats and piercing synth lines to create a pop-tinged dancefloor filler.
Tim McNamara
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INDIE POP
Show Me Spirit ’Til The End
Tara Simmons
Independent
The tragic loss of Tara Simmons from breast cancer last year will inevitably overshadow the release of her third solo album, but we should all hope to leave with such a legacy. This is a joyful collection of her sprightly, melodic folky electro-pop: think the midpoint on a spectrum with New Buffalo at one end and LCD Soundsystem at the other. Completed in the palliative care ward, and featuring a veritable who’s who of Brisbane musical luminaries, from Megan Washington and Kate Miller-Heidke to members of Hungry Kids of Hungary and her reliable right hand, Yanto Browning, this should have been the album that took Simmons to the next level. As it is, life-affirming songs like Achromatopsia and Let’s Go pack a dose of pathos in their calls to make the most of the moment.
Andrew P. Street
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ROCK
The New Abnormal
The Strokes
Cult/RCA Records
While the title of the Strokes’ sixth album (and first since 2013) lands with unintentional heaviness in the wake of COVID-19, the work itself provides a comforting balance between escapist guitar pop and offhand experimentation. Opener The Adults are Talking slots right into the New York band’s signature aerodynamic thrust, before Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus latches on to a sparkling dance pulse and Bad Decisions affably incorporates Billy Idol’s 1981 hit, Dancing With Myself. If Julian Casablancas’s slouched drawl and the burnished latticework of guitar melodies feel all too familiar at first, there are more counterintuitive turns ahead. Its carefree feeling of following almost every artistic whim makes for quite a mixed bag but, perhaps to the credit of producer Rick Rubin, it’s oddly cohesive.
Doug Wallen
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