GEORGIA

Euphoric (Domino)

Having had 2020’s Seeking Thrills – the album that gave us the sublime heights of heavy-feeling disco anthem Work The Dancefloor – on intermittent repeat since its release, my expectations were similarly high for Georgia’s latest, Euphoric. The name choice here fits the British singer-songwriter’s oeuvre so well it almost feels uncreative, and this third LP, her first non-solo production, emphasises the starry, intoxicating quality Georgia’s music has become defined by while pushing the envelope somewhat elsewhere.

There’s an echoing, downbeat patter, reminiscent of early 00s chill-pop from Dido and David Gray, to lower tempo tracks like Give It Up For Love and Keep On. The latter even ends on the surprising jangles of (what sounds like) a sitar, transporting you momentarily and pleasantly outside a typical Georgia plane of existence. Mountain Song and Some Things You’ll Never retread more familiar ground, anchoring the artist’s trademark soaring vocals with thumping dance beats.

But All Night is the album’s most unexpected moment: an unapologetic club-ready banger that sometimes takes on the glowstick hues of Cher’s Believe in its computerised vocal breaks and pounding pace. The influence of pop-country icon Shania Twain, whose recent Queen Of Me album Georgia worked on, has perhaps been a confidence booster for an artist finally letting loose after being confined to writing her last two albums at home.

While there’s nothing quite as emotionally resonant as the aforementioned 2020 favourite, Euphoria is as advertised – and inadvertently well-timed to brighten up what’s been a disappointingly wet and windy July.    

words HANNAH COLLINS