Sophie Ellis-Bexter - Perimenopop (Decca Records)
Release Date: Out Now
You have to hand it to Sophie Ellis-Bexter, as well as being a top-notch pop star, she's also an incredibly savvy operator who has capitalised on her Saltburn career bounce to perfection. This brings us to not only an extensive tour that she's currently in the middle of but her fabulous new album 'Perimenopop' which finds her not trying to be something or someone she's not to appeal to a certain demographic. This latest album kicks off with recent single 'Relentless Love' which mixes the floaty disco pop of Kylie with the icy cool Englishness of the Pet Shop Boys and what better way to get a party started (seriously, if you turned up to a party with PSB on the decks while Kylie and SEB duetting then you'd know you were in the right place).
'Vertigo' keeps the party vibes going with a slight Berlin electro influence before 'Taste' brings us the perfect song for a kitchen disco - complete with percussion that may or may not have been performed on ice cream sundae glasses. We take a step back to sip on a cocktail with 'Stay On Me' but the disco vibes are still fabulous and Ellis-Bexter's vocals are as polished, poised and poppy as ever. Then we jump into the convertible for a drive down the coast with 'Dolce Vita' blasting from the stereo before 'Time' goes all reflective and nostalgic in among the pulsating beats.
There is nothing on the album that will put die-hard SEB fans off but when it ain't broke, why on earth would you try to fix it? Take 'Glamorous', for example, the perfect sultry-pop song for a femme-fatale followed by 'Freedom Of The Night', a pumping dance floor filler with a French 70s twist that will have you searching out the nearest glitterball. There's a cheeky, playful energy to 'Layers' that sounds like they had a lot of fun in the recording studio while 'Diamond In The Dark' turns up the Nile Rogers guitar funk to let you know that the time for dancing is now or never.
As the party nears its end we get 'Heart Sing', a slow-dance from the 80s kinda track that adds a little electro style to the vocals to create something that sounds both robotic and genuinely from the heart. The album closes out on 'Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone' which leaves us with a sense of hope and that warm feeling of a great night out with friends and minimal drama as we make our way home through the empty streets and street lights. Essentially, 'Perimenopop' is the memory of a great night out set to music and, to paraphrase, it's better to have partied and now be in your sofa'n'streaming era than never to have partied at all.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/SophieEllisBextor
Live Dates:
October:
Wed 1st – Hamburg – Mojo Club
Fri 3rd – Copenhagen – Poolen
Sat 4th – Stockholm – Kägelbanan
Sun 5th – Oslo – Sentrum Scene
Tues 7th – Berlin – Astra Kulturhaus
Thurs 9th – Warsaw – Progresja
Mon 27th – Los Angeles – The Regent Theater
Tues 28th – San Francisco – August Hall
Thurs 30th – Vancouver – Commodore Ballroom
November:
Mon 3rd – Toronto – Danforth Music Hall
Tues 4th – New York – Webster Hall