Want to be the coolest kid on the block? Next time you get asked who you're loving, Ladyhawke is the answer. Wobbling on that titchy kerb between underground and mainstream that the likes of MIA hover, twenty something New Zealander Pip Brown is the latest cool female chick to release some amazing pop music that will unfairly sell about 700 copies.
Signed to ultra hip label Modular, Ladyhawke has taken the best bits of the 80s and re-imagined them for 2008 with the likes of Stevie Nicks and Cyndi Lauper all in the mix. There's a dance feel to most of the album with the Pascal Gabriel produced 'Magic' pounding it's way into your brain - it's powerful chorus reminding us of Ladytron's criminally ignored 'Destroy Everything You Touch'. This and the similarly urgent sounding 'My Delirium' are stadium sized pieces of pop rock that make you want to hit the dancefloor and own it.
More intimately, the likes of former single 'Back of the Van' and the funky 'Paris Is Burning' show off Pip's knack for writing instantly memorable lyrics. 'Dusk Till Dawn' is like catching Peaches on a happy day, with it's pulsating beats and bells oozing unnerving East Berlin vibes, while 'Professional Suicide' mashes CSS style guitars and drums with a hypnotic vocal.
'Ladyhawke' is a rare case of the real thing living up to the hype. This shouldn't be an album just for bloggers to swoon over, it's good enough and mainstream enough to be huge.
Originally published at Orange Music
Number #16 debut on the Aussie albums chart... Fairly solid, was expecting a Top #10 debut for it though.
ReplyDeleteGreat review ;)