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Reviewed by Amanda Mills

Ladyhawke: Wild Things

Reviewed by Amanda Mills

Ladyhawke: Wild Things

In the four years since Pip Brown released her second Ladyhawke album, ‘Anxiety’, she got married, got a Los Angeles address, and got healthy – all factors that have contributed to the optimistic outlook that’s evident in her third album. ‘Wild Things’ is a very personal record of upbeat, synth pop that eschews the grungey guitars and dark moods of 2012’s ‘Anxiety’, and looks back (at least stylistically) to her eponymous debut album. It is different to that early record though – the sound may be synth-based but it reflects its time and place. The sun-kissed lifestyle Brown has adopted bursts through in the warm sounds and upbeat rhythms of Golden Girl or Hillside Avenue, the latter in particular a paean to where she now lives. It also marks a change in collaboration, this time Brown worked with LA producer/writer Tommy English rather than previous musical partner Pascal Gabriel. What hasn’t altered is Brown’s gift for melody and ear for a good pop song, and the album has plenty of these, from the dulcet opening track A Love Song to the final dance floor-filler Dangerous. A bold step into a denser electronic sound from Ladyhawke, it sounds successful in that regard, although a few wild thing guitar riffs would have been welcome too.