The London-based dance duo combine forces with the likes of Bryan Ferry, Nick Littlemore and Will Young on their sixth album. Although it dips slightly around the midsection, the '80s-hued 'Black Light' is probably their best album in almost a decade.
How has it taken a band like Groove Armada so long to get in touch with their inner '80s geeks? While it seemed like every musician around them was dabbling in cheesy synthesisers, Tom Findlay and Andy Cato resisted pandering to the flock and continued to attempt making albums that innovated in less obvious ways.
Their sixth studio album, however, finally sees the respected engineers of dance and electronica succumb to the decade du jour. 'Black Light''s press release describes an album influenced by the likes of Bowie, Roxy Music and New Order – a fair assessment in one sense, given tracks such as 'I Won't Kneel' and 'Paper Romance', but a puzzling one upon hearing the languid west coast vibe of 'Just for Tonight', the slinky, hip-shaking rock of 'Fall Silent' or the '70s espionage ambience of 'Time and Space'.
Nevertheless, it only serves to diversify the already varied palette that Groove Armada usually utilise on their albums. The pair have have always varied their guest vocalists (2007's 'Soundboy Rock' stuffed the likes of Mutya Buena, Candi Staton and Jeb Loy Nichols into a recording booth), but it's Nick Littlemore of Pnau and Empire of the Sun who provides most of the yelps here, sounding not unlike LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy at times, it must be said. Bryan Ferry also croons over the sexy, floaty dance vibe of 'Shameless', while Will Young closes the album with 'History', a song that seems to combine Bronski Beat's 'Smalltown Boy' with Jamiroquai's 'Love Foolosophy' and amazingly, not sound cheesy.
All in all, it's probably Groove Armada's best work since 2001's 'Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)'.
