Album Review: AlunaGeorge - Body Music

AlunaGeorge
Body Music
Rating: Grrrr

UK duo AlunaGeorge, made up of Aluna Francis (vocals) and George Reid (production), has teased us over the past year with several amazing singles that threw them into the spotlight along with other upstarts like Disclosure who mined the 90s for inspiration. AlunaGeorge's debut record Body Music is definitely the more poppy of the two bands' records, unabashedly calling to mind Aaliyah's work with Timbaland, TLC, Brandy, Sade, and Neneh Cherry with nods to more contemporary artists and styles like The Knife, The xx, and James Blake along with 2-step, glitch hop, and UK bass music. Despite all these varied influences, AlunaGeorge has created a cohesive record with each track standing out individually, but also working with the others to mesh well as a whole. Aluna's vice is simultaneously breathy and controlled, youthful and mature, one that doesn't bash you over the head with its strength but more drawing you in subtly before enveloping you. Likewise, Reid's production is never too showy, always providing the right backing for Aluna's lovely voice, but always being distinctive and not just fading into the background.

Body Music collects all of the singles that AlunaGeorge has released in the past year. While the new tracks on the whole don't reach the perfection of their earlier singles, they show that the duo are able to branch off from that base and make a varied and beautiful collection of tracks that make up one of the best pop records of the year. Of the previous singles, my favorite is "Your Drums, Your Love," with its skittering beats, jazzy keyboards and synth washes, and a deeper, more restrained vocal turn from Aluna. There is so much going on in this track it is amazing it doesn't all fall apart. And I love the lyrics to this track, with Aluna getting more and more frantic, singing "I've been treading water for your love/Whether I sink or swim, it's you I'm thinking of/I've been treading water for your love/As my light grows dim maybe I'm not strong enough."



But of course, it is hard to dismiss such pop perfection of tracks like "Attracting Flies," with its thumping beats, quirky samples and keyboards, and Aluna cooing "Little grey fairy tales/And little white lies/Everything you exhale is attracting flies;"



"You Know You Like It" with its bloopy keyboards, synth washes, drunken drum programming, and Aluna's sexy delivery;



while "Just A Touch" trades in chirpy samples and rough synth rumbles over muted beats and Aluna's in control vocals.



The rest of the new tracks, while not being as completely off the rails distinctive as these singles, have their own subtle charms that blend well with the former standouts. Title track "Body Music" is a lush, haunted ballad that focuses more on the vulnerability in Aluna's voice,



"Friends to Lovers" is a jazzy ballad that reveals the amazing breadth in production skills that Reid possesses,



while tracks like "Lost and Found" and "Bad Idea"are club bangers with funky drum programming and rumbling basslines.



The only time the record doesn't really work is when some of the tracks feel like they are on auto-pilot, following too much of a pattern, and not adding anything interesting in the ways of production. Most notably, the pleasant, but wan ballad "Diver," the lurching and bland cliches of "Superstar," and the misbegotten cover of Montell Jordan"s "This Is How We Do It" which plays it safely by the book.



Overall though, these tracks are still listenable and enjoyable, they just don't stand out as well as the other tracks. Body Music is an assured debut from AlunaGeorge that, while not necessarily reaching the amazing heights of peers Disclosure's Settle, still has its giddy charms and amusements. I would like them to continue to push their sound like they did on the early singles, rather than try to buff things into more standard pop territory, as it is telling that the quirkier productions stand out much more. Too soon to say where this duo will head in the future, but for now, they have my attention.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.