MusicReview

Georgia: Euphoric – The singer’s third album gets better with every listen

This is a pop record with the right balance of depth and frivolity

Euphoric by Georgia
Euphoric
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Artist: Georgia
Genre: Pop
Label: Domino

A certain group of music fans have reached a rather horrifying point: the offspring of musicians they grew up listening to are now making their own mark. As with Mabel and Mahalia, however, the fact that Georgia has a parent (Neil Barnes of Leftfield) who preceded her in the industry is the least interesting thing about her. The Londoner has forged her own path through pop, her first two albums written in an insular manner at home but nevertheless finding an appreciative audience.

Her third is an aptly named melodic roller coaster, coproduced by the astute Rostam in his Los Angeles studio. These songs take unexpected swerves that don’t always hit the mark: Some Things You’ll Never Know sounds smothered by studio trickery, veering from arms-aloft rave to glittering disco. Georgia’s feather-light vocals add deftness to these love- and heartbreak-addled songs, though, which are laced with warmth and fuzziness (It’s Euphoric, Mountain Song), sadness and regret (The Dream) and bittersweet resolve (So What sees her vow “So what if it hurts? I’d still do it again”).

There are both subtle and blatant musical nods to the 1990s throughout, with echoes of the Happy Mondays’ Step On on Give It Up for Love, while Robyn’s Scandi-pop is an obvious touchpoint, particularly on Friends Will Never Let You Go and All Night. A pop record with the right balance of depth and frivolity, it gets better with every listen.

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. She writes about music and the arts for The Irish Times