The vibe has been loud enough on Little Red, with two very hot singles, “5 AM” and “Crying For No Reason” leading the way, and rave reviews from all the British press, including a 5 Star review in the Guardian, the follow up to her debut dance party hit album On A Mission, was already anointed as the dance album to beat before I ever took it out for a spin.
And it is really really good.
But much like the new John Newman it doesn’t live up to the hype; in theory the sound of modern EDM finds a young English woman in search of more than dancing after the lights on the disco are turned on. In practise, one too many ballad makes it a little less than the tight grip on the dancefloor we were hoping for.
Katy B is the latest on a short list of English dance bands changing yet again the landscape of the dancefloor. Along with Rudimental, Jese Ware (Who she sings a song with here), Disclosure, Sam Smith and a handful of others, she is forcing a graduation in modern dance into the front rocks of modern pop. That she gets it right well over half the time, with hard boiled ballads like “Emotions” trading places with the thumping bass filled “AAliyah” and pop melodic tensile “Everything”, on song after song on the 8 minutes plus album, she maintains a hard beat as she sings her tales of romantic woe.
Katy B’s voice is perfectly nondescript, like Robyn, who she is nearly as good as, though not Jessie Ware, who she walks a similar beat with. But her voice, even her personality, is just one component here, where a team of top notch UK DJs and producers, lead by Geeneus, the pirate radio DJ, and followed by hit machine Guy Chambers. Katy gets a writing credit on every song, and it sure fits like a singular view, but it gets too much and too samey and after awhile the songs have trouble extracting themselves. There is no “Katy On A Mission” or “Easy Please Me” to drag you in. There isn’t even a “Power On Me”. From the techno drum machine “Next Thing” forward, it sounds good but not great, it sounds a little too much like everyone else. And while I am sure songs here will improve out of context, it didn’t really jelp the second single, for all “Crying For No Reason” many powers, and it has a wonderful sweep and sense of moment, it isn’t sticky enough.
Perhaps there is too much of it at 17 songs, or perhaps it needs the dance floor to signify since it sounds at least exactly like synthco. And if Katy B wants to be considered a serious lyricist she wrote stuff better than “I’, moving on, can’t you see our love has gone.” Robyn wouldn’t consider that a first draft.
Katy B is the real thing, but this isn’t what was advertised.
Grade: B+
