JESSY LANZA

PULL MY HAIR BACK (Hyperdub)

16/20

Demanding some serious attention prior to its release, the glory of this LP sits gently between clean production and intimate hues. Produced jointly with Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys, Lanza’s training in jazz performance and classical piano lends to the accomplished melodies and crisp precision that become embroiled in, and wholly carried by, her distinct coos. Her vocals are warm and understated, as on title track Pull My Hair Back, where breathy whispers interplay flatly suggestive lyricism through delicately demure tones. Intro track Giddy disorientates with acidic textures, whilst upbeat album midpoint Keep Moving is a more danceable affair, where vocal influences Melba Moore and Evelyn Champagne King shine through, ultimately offset by the haunting flutters of synths and arpeggiated bass that form the basis of the album’s tangible richness. Intended as an R&B full length, Pull My Hair Back’s transcendental nature allows it to be interpreted in many ways. Jessy Lanza’s debut album for Hyperdub is a glistening exemplar of what electronic pop can, and should, be. Inheriting subtle but discernible hip-hop and 80s influences, Pull My Hair Back is fundamentally driven by impeccable simplicity; haunting R&B from the gloomy bedroom, for the gloomy bedroom.

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Words: Anna Tehabsim