| LADYHAWKE [ self-titled ] |
| Written by Luke Oram | ||
| Thursday, 30 April 2009 21:25 | ||
LADYHAWKE found her roots putting the indie in windy city, playing lead guitar in the punk rock outfit Two Lane Blacktop, who did quite well before their lead singer and drummer quit the band two days before an appearance at SXSW in Texas. Muppets. The fateful turn proved profitable for Brown however, who jumped a plane to Sydney, forming Teenager with Pnau’s Nick Littlemore, a move that would eventually give birth to LADYHAWKE. Back to the takeover. The first lady of discothèque’s eponymous debut is a near-flawless fusion of nostalgic 80’s romp and slick production. Her leading singles ‘Paris is Burning’ and Ladytron-produced ‘My Delirium’ are brilliant opening cards; the rest of the album an impressive tip of the hat to the best of the old and new. In the studio Brown handles all the instrumental duties, from the sizzling retro synths of ‘Manipulating Woman’ to the robotic pulsing rhythms of ‘Better Than Sunday’. LADYHAWKE is like an aural biff with Mohammed Ali. There are so many hooks you don’t know where to start, and you cant escape. Paying homage to Brown’s party-pop influences, ‘Another Runaway’ sounds like Pat Benatar covering ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ while ‘Professional Suicide’ channels her present-day counterpart Peaches. The greatest thing about LADYHAWKE is in the lack of contrivance on Brown’s part. There are fad albums, where artists bank on current genre trends and then there are albums like LADYHAWKE, in which Brown’s suave vocals and masterful melodies make for a genuinely brilliant throwback to the days of her youth and everything we loved about radio-friendly, truly danceable disco-pop. |
