Georgia's Seeking Thrills
The waves of synth-based music that have emerged in the last half-decade aren’t mere ‘80s revival. To deem them as such is to miss the point entirely, and they are to be ignored at your own peril. In 2020, we find ourselves living through an important musical movement: a new renaissance of synth-based dance and pop music that has only just begun to deliver us the music of tomorrow through the sounds and traditions of the past and present.
Georgia’s sophomore release on Domino Records, Seeking Thrills, is the embodiment of this movement on full display; a love letter to dance music that boasts a track list so packed with quality songs that it plays like a greatest hits collection. It is as sonically complex and emotionally dense a pop album as you will find in music today, anchored by immersive electronic textures and addictive rhythms that will keep you returning to it again and again.
This is evident from the onset, as Seeking Thrills begins with two left-field pop highlights and early singles, “Started Out” and “About Work The Dancefloor.” The former’s airy synth hits and eerie pre-chorus give way to a bassline so satisfyingly disgusting that you will find your head bobbing involuntarily as you give yourself over to the song (it reminds me of an improved version of the slinky bassline on Kanye West’s “Fade,” a highlight on 2016’s misunderstood gem The Life of Pablo). The latter is a track so riveting that it will commandeer your focus and direct it toward the dancefloor, regardless of where you may be when you listen. The magic of “About Work The Dancefloor” is in its texture, marrying synthesizer tones from the airy and ethereal to the angular and pulsating. The fact that Georgia has no material gifts for us is inconsequential; the exhilarating surges of the song are more than enough to satisfy.
“Never Let You Go” is the first conventional pop tune on the record, boasting a gritty, driving bassline that provides a sturdy sonic foundation for the sweet, soaring melody above. “24 Hours” continues this trend, finding Georgia at her most Robyn-esque, slowing down the proceedings for a moment to address the “party people,” those of us joining her on her exploration of the connective moments found between our motions and the song’s rhythm.
“Mellow,” featuring South East London singer and DJ Shygirl, marks Seeking Thrills’ darkest sonic turn, harnessing the menacing sounds of grime for a fun, yet brooding affair that recalls the wooziness of an evening spent partying a little too hard. Chased by “Till I Own It,” a musical spoon full of sugar to help the hangover from the night before go down, the listener is revived by a bath of weaving electronic arpeggios and killer boom-bap beats as they are prepared for the album’s compelling second act.
“I Can’t Wait” begins Seeking Thrills’ second half by picking up right where “24 Hours” left off, as we find Georgia continuing her exploration of the connective transcendence found on the dancefloor. “We finally begin to understand each other / I can't wait one more year,” she sings in the song’s pre-chorus. “That feeling like no other, with all we rediscover / Things will never disappear.”
The distorted screams of “Feel It” finds Seeking Thrills at its most primally evocative, surging with an explosive bassy groove that ebbs and flows into the otherworldly “Ultimate Sailor,” a song that recalls Kate Bush at her best. Transported by the prior song’s expansive outro, the listener finds themselves in the sci-fi funk of “Ray Guns,” an anthem of identity that finds Georgia declaring “be who you will be collectively and perfectly.”
As Seeking Thrills comes to a close, the dancehall euphoria of “The Thrill” and “Honey Dripping Sky” prove the perfect musical digestifs, exposing the profound irony of the album’s title. Truthfully, the listener never has to search for the thrills in Georgia’s sophomore LP. They are delivered, steadily, song after song, until the listener is left wanting to flip the record and begin this audio roller coaster ride all over again. The true search is Georgia’s, as she looks to top the formidable collection of songs here and continue to find new ways to bring us together through the power of dance music. We should have no doubt that she will succeed as her bright career is just getting started.
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If you like Seeking Thrills, check out:
The Warning by Hot Chip
Leftism by Leftfield
Madonna by Madonna
Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order
Body Talk by Robyn