Groove Armada’s latest record, Black Light, is really knocking P&C’s socks off on those February days where a serious pick up is needed; the record, featuring a gaggle of greats, will wreck a whole pile of synthesizers at you while maintaining a slightly more appealing to the masses sound than some of their previous work.
The record, which doesn’t drop stateside until March 3, already has two singles to its name; the Nov. release of “I Won’t Kneel”, and the latest, “Paper Romance”, an upbeat number that will help you slog through the late hours of the day. But my favorite off the record is “Shameless”, a track featuring the great Bryan Ferry, which opens with this brilliantly executed build up that will get you moving at any moment.
While the entire record is a bit darker than some of their other work, it is an absolutely stunner from start to finish: think lyrics from the likes of Saintsaviour, the aforementioned Bryan Ferry, and Nick Littlemore, and Will Young, to name a few.
If you know little of Groove Armada, the London dance duo, comprised of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, gained popularity in the mid-90s with a string of singles and eventually their debut LP Northern Star. But it was the follow-up, 1999s Vertigo, that saw me discover the group; a friend I played sports with in school had spent a semester in London and brought back my introduction to the likes of British electronic, each day introducing me to a new tape she’d ripped (and where I first discovered Stardust!) and I was sold from there on out.
So discover a bit of the groove today. You won’t regret it.
Pulp and Circumstance, Juiced. 