There’s no doubting that New Zealand hit-maker Ladyhawke can write a perfect pop song – “Paris is Burning”, “My Delirium” and the joyous “Dusk till Dawn” prove that. And this, her first album in five years, starts out promisingly. Both poppy, peppy “My Love” and catchy single “Think About You” serve as a much-needed injection of almost hedonistic, upbeat fun. “Time Flies” follows and this is a different beast – anthemic power pop that will have the audiences swaying with phone torches aloft.
“Mixed Emotions” was written with Jono Sloan and Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun fame, and lord does it sound like it. It’s a tad too sugary for me but you can appreciate the meeting of minds in this synth-pop-fest. “Guilty Love”, performed with a another antipodean act, Broods, has a glam rock swagger and appears to be about switching one persuasion (Catholicism) for another (lesbianism). What works less well are the slower-tempo pieces like “Take It Easy Mama” which teeters towards Cindy Lauper territory. Nobody wants that. “Loner”, “Adam” and “Reactor” too, are just a bit too close to the middle of the road. Fortunately “Walk Away’ gets things back on track – sometimes a bit of sing-songy frippery is just the ticket. “Love is Blind” ends the album on a high note, reminding us of that sublime voice – distinctive and dreamy.
It all sounds crisp and lush – there’s been an awful lot of knob-twiddling in the studio. But that’s her shtick: unafraid to do the unfashionable, Pip Brown sometimes seems like a woman out of time. Never far from an 80s-style synth treatment, the difference this time is – allegedly – that the songs are inspired by post-therapy wisdom and a palpable sense of relief having survived skin cancer. But you wouldn’t know that without the press release. Maybe this is an album you don't need to overthink.
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