AlunaGeorge
Body Music
Universal/Island – July 29th 2013
By Joshua Khan (@blaremag)
Find it at: iTunes | Insound | HMV Digital
7.8
Having spent most of 2013 introducing their fiercely sweet approach to electro soul, this London-based twosome have defibrillated commercial R&B. As AlunaGeorge, Aluna Francis (vocals) and George Reid (production) tread the lines of funky lounge pop, coating Body Music with plush ’90s Jive grooves, bulletproof hooks and vocal confections that would make Babyface proud. Every song doesn’t ornately glide with perfection, but Reid’s ability to mix Francis’ honeyed voice with glitched samples (“Best Be Believing”, “Body Music”) is uncanny. It’s what allows the album to interconnect daydreams and the dance floor, accenting emphatic steel drum grooves (“Just A Touch”), decadent outro bursts (“Outlines”), and distorted electro that sips on woozy bubblegum atmospherics (“Kaleidoscope Love”). Casually stimulating on multiple levels, the contagious pop will find a way to be pressed against your lips.
Listen: “Best Be Believing”, “Bad Idea”, “Your Drums, Your Love” || Watch: “You Know You Like It”