Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke (Album)
Suddenly, the 80’s are cool again. At first I think it was ironic, but gradually pop culture seems to be unashamedly indulging in the aesthetics and sounds of the decade that we once said style forgot. I guess it has something to do with the fact that the kids who were raised by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Sega Master System are all grown up and starting to call the shots. Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown, is a product of the 80’s and she wears that badge with pride. This is hinted at on the cover, which is a gorgeous watercolour depicting a young looking Ladyhawke in her undies and a big man’s shirt, on her knees engrossed by her Super Nintendo with a bunch of colourful, cuddly cats looking on. I really hope this is how the girl spends her free time, because it creates such an endearing image of an artist who is a stunning, trendy, indie-pop superstar, but also secretly a massive video game dork. There is even a Ladyhawke arcade game on her website where you can fly through space shooting lasers at evil space cats while listening to an 8-bit version of Paris is Burning, which is quite rad.
Maybe it’s in the snap of the snare drum, or the reverb on the vocals, or the chords played on Miss Brown’s vintage synthesizers during the chorus on more than one song, but this album sounds convincingly like it could have been a top 40 album from 1986 that was lost until now. While there are no shortage of artists out there taking their 80’s influences and wearing them on their sleeves, especially with electro being hugely popular right now, Ladyhawke does it so honestly, convincingly and without the slightest bit of irony. In short, she doe it better than anyone else I can think of. If you’ve just heard the song Paris is Burning on the radio, you’re probably slotting her in alongside quirky, European dancey indie pop acts like CSS, New Young Pony Club and The Ting Tings. These are pretty good comparisons, but there is definitely more to this girl. Songs like the heartfelt My Delirium are rich, melodic, definite single material, whereas the hand claps, ‘oh-oh-oh’s and heavy synth on Another Runaway carry all the trademarks of a Cindy Lauper or early Madonna classic, but with much less cheese. In fact it’s hard to listen to Back Of The Van without hearing bits of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun loud and clear. But the album does wind down a bit towards the end, finishing off with the breezy and gentle “Crazy World”.
Pip Brown is one clever lady (hawke). Not only does she have a warm, sweet but not too sweet voice that is perfect for this kind of pop – she can also play drums, guitar, synth, and really knows how to write a song. She says that Ladyhawke is just one side of her, and with a diverse musical background including stints as a percussionist in a brass band, and playing lead guitar in a grungey band full of blokes called Two Lane Backtop, it will be very interesting to see what she comes up with to follow up this delightful album.
