trip hop – Audiofemme

Erika de Casier Sharpens Signature Sound on Sophomore LP Sensational

Erika de Casier spent part of the last year like most of the rest of us – bottling kombucha, making sourdough bread, watching a shit ton of movies and spending a lot of time on her phone. But the other part was spent doing something most people struggle to do – putting feelings of heartbreak, transience and solitude into words and music and bringing a new meaning to the phrase “party of one.” The Copenhagen-based producer and songwriter’s sophomore record, Sensational, glimmers with honesty and danceability and finds de Casier asserting her needs with poise and a tight beat.

de Casier spent the earlier part of the pandemic in a relatable state of existential and literal dread. Between constantly watching Covid-19 numbers rise and experimenting with lacto fermentation, she says that she struggled to find meaning in making music. “Writing songs felt really meaningless,” she remembers. “And then, at some point I realized that it’s the only thing that gives me meaning now… you can escape a little with music. You can still make a song about going to a party with it having a meaning because it means something different for us now to be able to be together.” de Casier’s music, which fuses gentle vocals with R&B chords and UK garage beats, feels like the perfect soundtrack to dancing alone in your kitchen, longing for the days when leaning up against a sweaty body wouldn’t give you a panic attack.

She encapsulates this loneliness in her video for “Drama,” which follows her on the rollercoaster ride that accompanies complete solitude. It starts with the quintessential “dress up to go nowhere” routine, followed by a luxurious bubble bath and thirst trap selfies, then ends at risky texts and regret. de Casier perfectly describes the aftermath of this specific kind of emotional bender in the chorus when she sings, “I wrote you twice last night/Wish I could press rewind/Take back whatever I said/But I can’t do that/Thought it was going so well/Now I don’t even know.” She balances remorse with levity when she admits her tendency to lean towards the theatrical side of things. “I don’t mean to cause any drama, it’s just somehow, it always gets me.” In fact, de Casier blends self-awareness and irony so well, it’s hard to tell which one is which. Or maybe it’s both, and that’s what makes it so good?

That duality characterizes Sensational, where de Casier glides from wanting a no-strings-attached romance in “Someone to Chill With” and thinking about a lost flame on “Secretly.” But just like in “Drama,” no one feeling is truer than the other. You can miss someone and still want to explore other people and feelings. You can be an R&B singer with a soft voice and proclivity for trip-hop. It’s what makes de Casier’s music so loveable and so her. She explains that it took some time to reach this signature sound.

She describes her early recordings as “artsy” and “soundscape-y” with little to no vocals. “I convinced myself that was a choice but, really, I couldn’t make a beat if I wanted to,” she says, followed by a laugh. Feeling limited by what YouTube University had to offer, de Casier enrolled in an electronic music program where she was able to grow her skillset as a producer. She was simultaneously acting as the main vocalist and songwriter for the project Saint Cava, which she started with her friend Andreas Vasegaard. Performing with Saint Cava allowed de Casier to start producing solo tracks on her own, free from pressure. “That’s when I wrote ‘Puppy Love’ and it just made me so happy,” she remembers. “I felt it was completely me.”

But even feelings of euphoria can be interrupted by the dark cloud of imposter syndrome, which is what happened to de Casier. She felt self-conscious about producing because she was surrounded by producers – Vasegaard and her long time friend Natal Zaks – who she saw as way ahead of her skill-wise. “I compared myself a lot with them, like, ‘Why even bother when there are other people who are so talented?’” But her search for the sound that felt right for her inevitably broke down that mental barrier and led her to produce her debut album, Essentials. “I think I reached a point where I actually had this style that I didn’t get from any producers I was working with,” she says.

If Essentials was de Casier’s first major foray into producing, it’s clear she has a well of talent to dip into, and Sensational proves that. She stays true to the base that she created in her first record while adding layers of more live-sounding instruments and experimenting with genre. “I think what changed is maybe… with Essentials, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was just having fun with it,” she says. “Now, I feel like, okay, that went well, so I’ll keep doing that I guess.”

Follow Erika de Casier on Instagram and Facebook for ongoing updates.

PLAYING DETROIT: Gosh Pith “True Blue”

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with our favorite cosmic trip-hop duo Gosh Pith, who have spent the past few months touring sporadically while teasing tracks from their forthcoming record. Most recently, Josh Freed and Josh Smith dropped “True Blue,” a love song at its core inspired by getting pulled over by a state trooper after a gig. What Gosh Pith is getting a stronger grip on these days is the power of duality. Clashing bass serves as both an opportunity for an impassioned bump and grind and also viscerally alludes to wavesrelentlessly beating the shoreline. The lyrics are relatable in their indecisiveness; running to and from, pulling away and in. Relating the fear of the law with romantic entanglements, it’s easy to picture yourself escaping the swirl of red and blue lights on foot, dipping through highway brush and hopping fence lines with the same endangered fire you might escape to/from the arms of the one who’s got you feeling all types of crazy.

The lyrics are relatable in their indecisiveness; running to and from, pulling away and in. Relating the fear of the law with romantic entanglements, it’s easy to picture yourself escaping the swirl of red and blue lights on foot, dipping through highway brush and hopping fence lines with the same endangered fire you might escape to/from the arms of the one who’s got you feeling all types of crazy. There is a, dare I say, Bieber-esque moment with the harmony surrounding the chorus that is pleasantly poppy and roots the track to the duo’s hidden, soft-spoken accessibility. If “True Blue” is any indication of what we can expect from their next album, it’s apparent that Gosh Pith is still pulling us into their beautiful world where the waters run deep and being trapped means another chance to break free.

Pull over and turn up with “True Blue” below:

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PLAYING DETROIT: Nydge “Lemme Know” (Feat. Joshua)

Detroit has always been the dark horse holy ground for musical exploration and long-term contribution to music at large. Assemble Sound, a collective of collaborative artists as well as a full-fledged recording studio nestled in a historic church in Detroit’s Corktown district, is redefining the music community and blowing the glass ceiling off of possibilities for local artists.

In the spirit of collaboration, Assemble forged an idea that would allow artists to experiment with each other’s sound as well as find a home for whatever mashup is born from that session. The Sunday Song Series (which stipulates that the song must be a collaboration and go through the peer review process and, of course, must be recorded at Assemble Sound). It’s an “all-hands-on-deck” situation at Assemble, but not because there aren’t enough hands to start with. Rather, an extension on Assemble’s philosophy which is deeply rooted in exploration of creative freedom while still focusing on the formalities of how to succeed in the industry. At the end of summer, Assemble will release a 12-track album of all the Sunday Song Series and as summer comes to a close, we are gifted song 11 from the series which is a collaboration between Nydge (producer and soundsmith Nigel Van Hemmye) and Joshua (one half of trip-hop duo Gosh Pith) titled “Lemme Know.”

A trippy love ballad that begs for another chance and bounces around like teenagers flirting at the mall, “Lemme Know” is a playful plea and a totally danceable account of an impending heartbreak. The shimmying synths and periodic chimes give a montage feel; from first kiss, to meeting the fam, to growing disinterest to a bold “take-me-back” 80s John Cusack worthy gesture. The song is quick but satiated; Joshua’s verses are sleepily distressed until the chorus builds to a hopeful plan to “keep this love alive” where his vocals climax. The production is radio ready and could easily squeeze a female vocalist to duet the cat and mouse fluctuation of who loves who and how hard. But the track is effective with Joshua’s singular bright side desperation as Nigel’s fashion show runway mixtape vibe clashes to form pop purity at its funnest.

Listen to the collaboration below and click here if you want to know what’s happening at Assemble.

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PLAYING DETROIT VIDEO PREMIERE: Gosh Pith “K9”

My favorite gush worthy trip-hop duo, Gosh Pith, returned this week with another treat from their upcoming EP, Gold Chain, due out February 26. Directed by Shane Ford and chock-full of my friends, acquaintances, and fellow kindred city spirits, “K9” is described as “a story about a young love triangle in the heart of the Detroit underground.” The video is dizzying, enchanting, and perfectly encapsulates the hazy romanticism of Detroit’s landscape.

Shot through the eyes of explorative youth who are tempted with growing up too fast, “K9” is met with a thoughtful innocence and sweetness that speaks to that nostalgic space of feeling small in a big world and the desire to be taken seriously. Each scene explores familiar rites of passage. From stealing a gold bottled beverage and gold chain candy bar from the convenience store, to becoming blood brothers and sisters on the steps of an abandoned house, to sneaking into an after hours club where they yield a gun for fun and turn down the offer to snort lines of gold glitter. As the viewer, you never fear for these kids and you don’t criticize their judgment because what “K9” does best is connect us to the restless teenager buried within our jaded adult skin.

More like a film than a video, Gosh Pith found a poetic way to capture ennui, peer pressure while still remaining “cool,” which seems to be the shared goal of our three, baby faced actors. The repeated hook, “We just don’t know nothin’ baby” is simple and telling of the human condition (and the teenage one, respectively) and reads more like a movie script line than a lyric, making “K9″ an unexpectedly evolved and evocative experience.

Check out the video below.

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BAND OF THE MONTH: The Harrow

With a name inspired by a Kafka story, it makes sense The Harrow would be well-spoken. Yet even with the bar set high the mysterious Brooklyn coldwave/post-punk band impressed with their bewitchingly intelligent interview. The Harrow is Vanessa Irena (vocals, synth, programming), Frank Deserto (bass, synth, machines), Barrett Hiatt (synth, programming) and Greg Fasolino (guitar). They are currently working on an upcoming LP that we’re already gnawing to hear. I spoke with our Artist of the Month about gothic art, nerdy influences, and selectivity of gigs.

AudioFemme: How did you guys meet and form a band?

Barrett: We all seemed to have traveled in the same circles for some years, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time for this band to come to fruition. Frank and I became close friends during our previous band, and we had shared stages with Greg’s previous band as well. Vanessa and Frank met through their respective DJ gigs, and the timing just felt right. Frank had some demos kicking around, I jumped in and we started fleshing things out. We then invited Greg to add his signature sound, and Vanessa was the perfect last piece to the puzzle.

AF: Who do you look up to as musical inspirations?

Frank: As far as sound is concerned, bands like Cindytalk, And Also the Trees, Breathless, Cranes, For Against, and of course, The Cure and Cocteau Twins are hugely inspirational, as well as most of the players in the French coldwave and early 4AD movement. Belgian new beat and ’90s electronica have been influences that I’m not quite sure have fully manifested yet, but are definitely something I’d love to explore further in the coming years.

Greg: For me, the 4AD sonic universe is definitely a place we all intersect and Cocteau Twins are the ultimate touchstone. As a musician, I am particularly influenced by classic ’80s post-punk bands like The Chameleons, Comsat Angels, Banshees, Bunnymen, Sad Lovers & Giants, and The Sound, as well as ’90s genres like shoegaze (Slowdive, Pale Saints, MBV), trip-hop (Massive Attack, Portishead), and alt-rock (Smashing Pumpkins, Suede, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley). Lately I am very inspired by a lot of modern neo-shoegaze bands, who seem to be carrying the torch for dreamy, effects-heavy music now that much of the post-punk revival has dissipated, as well as more atmospheric metal stuff like Agalloch and Deftones/Crosses and creative, hard-to-categorize bands like HTRK and Braids.

B: I’m not sure if I can get through an interview without mentioning Trent Reznor, but he has always inspired me, through his recording methods as well as his choice of collaboration, and just his general attitude towards music. Of course: David Bowie, Chris Corner, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, The Cure. I do have a tendency to lean on bands from the ’80s.

Vanessa: I’m a huge fan of Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray, The Knife) and Elizabeth Bernholz (Gazelle Twin). These days I’m mostly listening to techno and textural stuff (Ancient Methods, Klara Lewis, Vatican Shadow, Function, Profligate, OAKE, Adam X, Mondkopf, etc.).

AF: What about other artists: poets, painters, writers – who else has influenced your sound?

F: Literary influences are as important to me as musical influences. There’s the obvious surrealist and nightmarish nods to Kafka, but other authors such as Isak Dinesen, Robert Aickman, Albert Camus, Charles Baudelaire, and William Blake have inspired the lyrics I’ve written for the band, some more directly than others. As for art, the same applies; Francis Bacon seems almost too obvious to mention, but his work is incredibly moving. Francisco De Goya as well. I’m also drawn heavily to bleak, medieval religious art, usually depicting the crueler aspects of Christianity. Perhaps a bit cliché as far as gothic influences are concerned, but lots of imagery to draw upon.

B: David Lynch, John Carpenter, Jim Jarmusch, Anton Corbijn, just to name a few. These guys paint wonderful pictures through film, and I always find it very inspiring.

V: Frank and I have pretty similar tastes in art, so I definitely agree with him on the above, but I think it’s worth mentioning that we’re also all a bunch of huge fucking nerds. I’m not ashamed to admit that lyrical inspiration for me can come just as easily from The Wheel of Time or an episode of Star Trek: TNG as it does from Artaud.

AF: What do you credit to be your muse?

F: My bandmates. 

G: Posterity.

V: My shitty life/Being a woman.

B: Dreaming.

AF: Blogs love labels, but how would you describe your music?

F: I don’t ever attest to reinventing the wheel. We all draw from different influences and I mostly consider our sound to be a blend of shoegaze/dream pop, 4AD, and early ’80s post-punk vibes. We generally err on the dreamier side but have no qualms with getting aggressive if the mood calls for it. At this point in the game, creating a new sound is out of the question, but our varied tastes and interests have led to some cross-pollination of genres that hopefully proves to be interesting amidst dozens of modern bands operating in a similar medium.

B: I’m still trying to get a little saxophone in there.

AF: Will you speak to the darker element of your style?

F: Operating in this medium is less of a conscious choice for me than it is a catharsis. Therapy in a sense – a method of expressing otherwise unpleasant thoughts and feelings to make something creative, rather than letting my shadow side consume me.

B: Darkness is way more interesting. And real. 

AF: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be?

F: At this point, the idea of collaborating with someone famous is an overwhelming thought. Sorry for the cop out, but I can say that we’re looking forward to some collaborations from some of our peers, both original and in remix form. More on this as it develops!

B: Sorry Frank, but I’m going with Pee-Wee Herman.

AF: Will you tell me about your current LP you’re working on?

F: We spent the majority of 2014 hunkering down and working on the record. We recorded Silhouettes in piecemeal form over the course of the year, layering synths and guitars and drums as they fell into place. The record is currently in the can and is being mixed as we speak by the uber-talented Xavier Paradis, and will hopefully see release this fall via aufnahme + wiedergabe.

AF: How does it differentiate from previous work?

F: The new record is incredibly diverse – there are ambient segues, the occasional industrial/hip-hop hybrids, and plenty of other eclectic sounds to go around. There are more complex rhythms that are the result of Vanessa and Barrett’s superior drum programming talents, for starters. We also took turns writing lyrics this time around, with Barrett, Vanessa, and I all contributing. It’s truly The Harrow as it’s meant to be – a band hitting their stride as a full working unit with equal love and collaboration driving us.  

AF: Can we expect any live shows for you in the future?

B: While we enjoy playing live from time to time, it isn’t the primary focus of the band. We are at points in our lives where making the music is more important and rewarding in and of itself than performing it on stage. Our goal with the band leans much more toward the creative side. When we do play though, we want to make sure it is an event, and something to look forward to, not just the typical four random bands on a Tuesday night thing.

Watch The Harrow’s music video for “AXIS” below.

ALBUM REVIEW: Brash Flair “Two”

Trip hop duo Brash Flair is comprised of vocalist Kristin Johnston and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Wentz. They’ve been singing together since high school after which they teamed up to combine downtempo electronica, soulful vocals, and uncommon structures. Their most recent EP Two was released April 1st. Somehow, though there are only five songs on this EP, Brash Flair have managed to create a gorgeous collection of thoughts and movement that feels vast and exploratory.

My immediate thought was that they sounded a bit like Tricky or Massive Attack but with more classical/traditional structures. I was surprised and a bit delighted by the carefully placed, modest bongo beats and a soft, ascending xylophone. Those are not sounds that are easy to use without coming off as comedic or overwhelming. In slower songs like “Sleeping” and “Good Morning” the emphasis is on the vocals which keep up a steady balance of emotion and ethereality. Johnston is a soprano, but she sings more like a jazz or hip hop vocalist than a classical one. This really picks up the downtempo, especially on tracks like “Ready,” which combines a strong hip hop melody with frantic electronic fluttering, complementary piano, and quick and simple guitar strumming.

A lot of these tracks are pretty complicated. They take unique structures and warp them into something palatable, thought-provoking, and often moving. The credit here may be to Wentz’s study of architecture. The songs are experimental in the way they push at the limits of a genre like trip hop. Johnston’s vocals can be unexpectedly atypical in certain sections, particularly on “Blanket of Blue” where she ranges from jazzy to sort of flat and wondering. Fans of these genres may find themselves utterly entranced by the rhythmic patterns on this album.

As far as the meaning behind these five tracks: they seemed, to me, to exploring human autonomy. How much is a person truly able to move and affect the world and others around them? It’s easy to mistake a lot of the songs as being about love because of the tone of Johnston’s sensuous vocals, but I would argue that a larger interior exploration is going on, even in songs like “Good Morning,” which is more layered than it first sounds.

The lead single from this EP, “Your Line,” makes good on the danceable feeling hinted at in promising electronic snippets within “Good Morning.” The rhythm explores different worldly schools, especially Latin, with a house follow-through that rings almost incongruous. This complicated beat is the real focus of the song, wildly different from the other tracks. Johnston’s vocals are cut up into more rhythmic sounds which creates a very produced vibe. Though this treatment obscures most discernable lyrics, she seems to be talking about possession, repeating a word which could be “mine,” “mind,” or “line”. I love that this isn’t clear because it asks the listener to think about all three of those terms and how they relate to each other. There’s something questioning in the lyrics throughout which leads me to think about ownership – who owns the “mind” or “line?”

This album is more than worth the listen for its varying rhythmic structures, emotive themes, and the way it plays with voice. Johnston and Wentz have really taken collaborating seriously. Listen to their EP Two below:
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ALBUM REVIEW: Neneh Cherry “Blank Project”

Neneh Cherry is back with Blank Project, a collaboration with experimental electronic group RocketNumberNine and her first solo album in 16 years. Built on Cherry’s erudite life experience, this album weaves its way in and out of complex emotion with soul and aplomb. It’s everything you could want from a partnership between the weight of Cherry’s alt hip hop and Rocket’s minimal expressions. The songs range from sensual to spiritual to menacing, maintaining simple lyrics that deal with a more general language (“hate,””love,” movement, despair), while using sound in very unexpected ways, and making sure the listener is always invited into the space that is explored.

“Across the Water,” the first track on the album, may also be the best. It’s certainly the most striking emotionally – a song about fear and anger, a mother’s protest. A slow, hypnotizing beat follows Cherry’s soft, whispery Sprechgesang. The minimal quality to the music is so strong that Cherry’s words paint incredibly vivid pictures. “Dripping water,” she shows us, “Dripping down.” The rhythm is intoxicating and makes me want to sway and sing along. But there’s an attendant darkness that quickly worms its way in. Cherry begins to sing: “My hands across the water / My two feet in the sea / My fear is for my daughter / But will wash over me.” The lines rhyme and move together like a poetic chant or folk song. It stays minimalist through and through, without the rhythm intruding on the terrible, beautiful space that Cherry creates with her words. Her voice carries a menacing undertone during the more spoken-word verses. But there’s a great deal of fragility when she sings the chorus. I can’t imagine a more haunting song to open up this personal journey.

Cherry talks a lot about weakness in these tracks. “Blank Project”, the title track, is about a man she loves so much she “hates it.” It’s a concise song, hurriedly sung, with a beat that changes rhythm as often as her voice. She sings about being made to feel small, but opting to reject it. “I hate you.” She tells him, simply. But also, “I love you / I love it all.” Though these concepts are general, the complexity isn’t too difficult to grasp as a listener, especially placed alongside the music. All kinds of sounds are used through this track: dinging bells, vocalizers that drop Cherry’s voice super low, and a weird synthy, drone-like layer that makes the middle of the song uncomfortable. This is not about self-pity or even grief. There’s no sense that the woman behind the voice is not in control of her physical or mental self, even though she expresses weakness. The entire time she’s telling “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][her] man” that he’d “better change.”

“Everything” is also about weakness, but inverted from the way she speaks about it prior. In this more electronic, stripped-down track, Cherry explores the ups and downs of defensiveness. It opens with muffled, soft vocals before the beat kicks in. When her voice enters the fray, it tells us: “I can’t hear you / What I can’t hear can’t upset me.” However, this defense mechanism obviously isn’t working. We can still hear the muffled voice. Cherry herself also seems to be struggling with her own voice, reaching for high notes, stretching it to its maximum. The listener follows as she finds it tougher and tougher to defend herself. By the end of the song some of the most strange vocal stylings on the album emerge. Cherry moves between a shaky, animalistic laugh and hoarse shouting. The rhythm continues to roll, but there’s something desperate and heart-wrenching in the narrative.

In tracks like “Naked”, more industrial motifs are explored. Cherry manages to create mechanical sounds without forfeiting any of the track’s emotional grip: if anything, she and Rocket somehow make transform the industrial into inviting and warm. Immediately Cherry asks that someone strip her naked and put her outside. Then, she urges us to “run a little faster.” Her vocals are absolutely gorgeous–soaring and capturing the listener in an almost mystical melody. I think it’s a brilliant idea to mix melodic tropes we associate with the spiritual with a very sensual song. There’s also an intriguing double tone that jerked me out of my comfort zone during the verses, juxtaposed to the soothing chorus.

A bit of happiness is occasionally touched upon during Cherry’s journey. “Weightless” begins like the prelude to a house jam, though it quickly diverts into a grungy, meticulous rhythm. Cherry uses crooning vocals from the start with notes that reach fairly high. When the chorus kicked in I suddenly realized this, in fact, is a dancing song. Though Cherry “can’t find [her] right moves” she keeps on dancing and she’s “weightless.” There’s a soulfulness to it, channeled through the vocals. By the end of the song there’s a great sense of catharsis. “Weightless!” Cherry sings with joy – “Come on! Weightless!”

This album is worth listening to for the varied soundscapes, alone. But the narrative is also deeply moving, the rhythms unexpected, and Cherry’s voice unique and electric. The story of a powerful, but sensitive woman is unraveled. We’re invited into all of Cherry’s complexities and it’s an uncomfortable, but gorgeous space

Blank Project comes on on February 25th. In the meantime, watch Neneh Cherry sing “Blank Project” at Studio 360:
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TRACK OF THE WEEK: Neneh Cherry & Robyn “Out Of The Black”

Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and all around renouncer of musical restrictions Neneh Cherry has returned with her first solo album in 18 years, Blank Project, due to be released on February. She is joined by fellow Swede and pop star Robyn on the song “Out Of The Black”- a beautifully produced, minimal piece that combines their voices into a declaration of self.

“Out Of The Black” begins with a breakbeat, recalling Cherry’s many dalliances with trip hop. Minimal synth and bass pick up, altogether forming simple, easy instrumentation. The music glides over you, pulls you along, but not forcefully. We hear Cherry’s strong, personal, and critical vocals first: “Just trying to mind my business // I see the wolf packs congregating on the corners”. It’s easy to recognize her acuity and wisdom in these lines. She doesn’t want to involve herself in what she observes, but by observing she’s forced to, anyway. Robyn comes in with the chorus and the song changes. There’s something dissonant about their voices together. It doesn’t sound right at first. But by the end of it you realize it’s actually completely brilliant.

Cherry and Robyn have different vocal stylings, not necessarily regarding disparate ranges, but certainly in terms of tone. Robyn is a pop singer: bold, sweet, feminine. Cherry is subversive, even in her singing, and more breathy than Robyn, even fragile-sounding. Robyn’s voice complements the electronic elements with its clarity and her enunciation. Cherry takes it out of the electronic and into the personal. I’m vaguely reminded of Dirty Projectors’ harping. If this song was all Robyn it would be unusually calm for her. If this song did not feature Robyn it would be an unusually mellow Neneh Cherry song. But the two of them together hold it in a space that’s entirely new.

“Behind our backs”, “Face the pack”, they sing. The bass follows these lines of thought with an evident, electronic pulse, but not one that is overwhelming or obnoxious. Though music is well composed, it seems almost secondary to the vocals. Robyn and Cherry are making statement of self: affirmations, declarations as successful, experienced women. “I’m Robyn on the microphone into the speaker”, she sings and it’s catchy and it’s true. She is Robyn with a capital R. She and Cherry come together with confidence as the song goes on. While the chorus begins: “Out of the black/ Out of the blue / I just want you / To want it to”, by the end of the song it has changed to: ‘“There are the facts / This is the news: / We just want you / To want it, too”. A melancholy conclusion, perhaps, but a sweet comedown nonetheless.

Pick up Neneh Cherry’s new album on February 25th and if you’re in Europe look out for her tour:

Tag: trip hop