5 things to know about Seeking Thrills by Georgia

January 10, 2020 admin concerts, music, music reviews, vancouver music

Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2020 19:00:00 +0000

Georgia | Domino

British electronic musician Georgia certainly grew up surrounded by tasty beats. Her father is Neil Barnes of the group Leftfield and before releasing her acclaimed debut in 2015, she had held down the drummer’s duties in Kate Tempest, Micachu and Kwes’ bands.

If her debut was more indebted to hip-hop with something of a punky edge, Seeking Thrills is full-on dance music with more than a tip of the bell bottoms and platform shoes to disco’s heady heyday.

The musician was inspired to create her hedonistic new release following a weekend of complete release in Berlin nightclubs. There, she determined that the “transcendental power of the dance floor” was something to be embraced, showcased and celebrated in her 12 track album. This new direction has Seeking Thrills being recognized as one of 2020’s most anticipated albums.

Here are five things to know about it:

1. About Work the Dancefloor. The lead-off single was the the one the Berlin clubbing trip inspired, and it’s an homage to cutting loose with a wicked hook and a very Robyn-esque bounce. For such a cheery track, the chorus is curiously dark. Does this foreshadow the downside of dance music culture? As a teetotal vegan who was a child football prodigy, chances are Georgia is all about the spiritual release rather than chemical ones.

2. Mellow (feat. Shygirl). There are still tracks on Seeking Thrills that feature some of the hazy Missy Elliot-esque feel of Georgia’s debut. With its breathy rap from Shygirl dropped over top of some robot rhythms, this song certainly shows that she can still get weird.

3. Feel It. In the accompanying album press, Georgia says that she did serious research into the Chicago house and Detroit techno scenes of the Eighties, and how much influence artists such as Frankie Knuckles and Mr. Fingers had on music coming from pop acts ranging from Madonna to Depeche Mode. These crossovers were a big part of what made much of the Sire Records roster sound so fresh, as the mutant disco scene acts who were embracing both electronic cutting edge sounds as well as art-rock dissonance, came up with unique pop. Feel it feels that.

4. Never Let You Go. There are two versions of this driving electro-punk track on the album and it’s a pretty obvious single. With its distorted bass grind, swirling vintage keyboards, and sparse drums, this song is surprisingly Metric-like. It’s also really addictive turned up loud.

5: Remixes. With a major UK and European tour coming this year, Georgia probably won’t be over on this side of the water showcasing her one-person band stage set up for awhile. However, there are certain to be plenty of remixes of tracks from Seeking Thrills landing at clubs, as artists such as the Black Madonna have already tweaked About Work the Dancefloor, among others.

Also out this week:

Beach Slang

The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City | Bridge Nine Records

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Behemoth

Live from Maida Vale | Metal Blade Records

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Chelsea Stewart

Chelsea Stewart | Baby Momma Music

This artist was the youngest ever Juno nominee in the reggae category and her EP Genesis went on to win numerous other industry awards. That recording was a showcase of her natural vocal chops and acoustic strumming. This time out, heavyweights such as Sly and Robbie are onboard to give the production some oomph. Songwriter Renee Brown co-wrote with Stewart to give songs such as Crush or Do You Love Me a little more fleshing out, and it all works. Forever Your Girl is classic.

Lordi

Killection | AFM Records

Finland’s only winners of the Eurovision Song Contest took the world by storm in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah, and have been fixtures on the ridiculously busy Scandinavian/Northern European heavy metal scene ever since. On its latest record, the band offers up a collection of killer hits (get the title) that may or may not have ever been singles back in the 1970s. Recording with a lot of period gear and studio technology, the sound of Killection’s 15 tracks is abetted by silly skit intros where an imaginary DJ discusses topics such as supernatural summoning in songs like The Last Hour. It’s a pretty amusing concept, but perhaps one that carries on too long.