Previous album Soundboy Rock turned the GA focus to urban r'n'b, but new album Black Light takes the band again in a new direction. Essentially GA have taken the 80's clubland melting pot where disco, soul, r'n'b, white-boy funk, pop... et al. all mucked in together with varying exploitations of the revolutionary new electronic technologies - the synthesiser and the drum machine, and have run it through their own superb production factory. At their best they weld a near-perfect union between pop and club, taking (i.e. writing) real songs and producing them using dance based technologies, rhythms and aesthetics.
This 80's musical renaissance has clearly gone well beyond simple nostalgia or ironic retro-fashion. Bands are delving deep into the work of Talking Heads in particular, but also all the early synth based pop, and are digging out and refining beats, tones, moods, effects (especially the saturating, arena-sized reverb). Here GA take on the big stage, soulful pop of say Yazoo or Level 42, and re-engineer it with a deeper, fuller, sound more suited to this new millenia. Andy Cato has pointed to the band looking back to Bowie (presumably his post Ziggy work - Heroes perhaps?), Numan, New Order, and perhaps this is indeed in there too. Noticeably absent is anything in the way of their trademark, gentle "retail electronica" - there's no "My Friend" or "Hands of Time". The pedal is to the floor (well, relatively speaking at least).
As ever GA rely on guest vocalists and this time out for the majority of the album the vocal baton is passed back and forth between Nick Littlemore (Empire Of the Sun) - doing a kind of punky white boy rap thing, and Saintsaviour - chanteuse dramatique - who is perhaps on a holy quest to find Stevie Nicks' heart-torn-rock-queen tiara.
"Warsaw", with Littlemore, is based around a large 'n dirty electro-house bassline, it's a get-the-party-started raver's whistle of a tune. With a weird juxtaposition but to good effect Will Young features on the album's recent single "History". This has the bittersweet pop-funk of say Tears for Fears, but with a subtle undercurrent of house throbbing through the insistent beat, and the beefed up bass.
"Cards to Your Heart" is a new wave funk track hounded along by a fat electro synth, while "I Won't Kneel" with Saintsaviour's multi-tracked, reverbed vocals sounding like the Bangles, or Belinda Carlisle, is exuberant, glossy urban soul, you half expect Meatloaf to appear any moment and sweep her in his arms. (Check out the video - it's spectacular http://youtu.be/te800CeEjBM )
Possibly the best track on the album is "Shameless" which features the surprisingly fresh sounding, bona-fide 80's legend Bryan Ferry, with his trademark breathy, louche and coolly distanced crooning, this understated house track has ample mood-space.
"Look me in the eye sister", with Jess Larabee standing in for perhaps Joan Jett, or Pat Benatar is a regular soft rock song - big guitar / faux guitar chorus, in the tradition of say "Power of Love". This is followed by "Paper Romance", which sounds exactly like something by MGMT, and that's no bad thing at all, while "Time And Space" with both Saintsaviour & Jess Larabee, has shamelessly lifted the iconic bass line and more from Roxy Music's "Love is the Drug", but done it so well you can't help but love it.
"Fall Silent", with Littlemore again, clearly shows the influence of GA's younger contemporaries - say, Animal Collective, with multi-layered 'group sing' vocals and super-chorused synths, this is indie music played on electronic instruments. Album closer "Just For Tonight" is more Fleetwood Mac-esque soft rock, adroitly carried by Larabee's fine vocal.
In summary, yes - you can't escape the retro, and no, there's nothing remotely new in it at all - this is exactly as mainstream as it could ever really be. If you're looking for something a bit more adventurous and unexpected, try instead the new Gorillaz album Plastic Beach. But for comfortable, masterfully produced, nearly-cool but-unfortunately-too-white, dance pop you can certainly rely on Groove Armada to deliver.
Links:
Paper Romance - http://youtu.be/UbpWBDfpUBA