Lion Babe’s lion babe, Jillian Hervey, does, indeed, have a mane to match the title. The daughter of the actor, soul-pop star and dethroned Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams, she also has a voice that lives up to the moniker, running from the feline to full leonine soul. Lion Babe is not just Hervey, though. Her production partner Lucas Goodman is also on hand to provide the necessary beats, basslines and electronic backing. The New York pairing, who made an appearance on Disclosure's last album, have been much touted as faces for 2016. Their debut album, while not exactly busting open new territory, holds its own.
The best thing about Begin is its restraint. Lion Babe have not lathered on sucrose computer pop, contemporary chart tics and naff R&B clichés. Instead, almost every song is based on pared back percussive loops and built from there, like a bigger, shinier and less stoned-sounding SBTRKT. That said, closing song “Dreamer”, a winning, bluesy lullaby, and the late night vinyl crackles of 2012 debut single "Treat Me Like Fire", both veer pleasingly into the hazy and narcotic, but most of the album aims for more snap and dynamism.
Pharrell Williams makes an appearance but doesn’t dig very deep into his magic bag for his production on “Wonder Woman”, and Childish Gambino is no more than adequate on “Jump Hi”’s guest rap, but Lion Babe thankfully don’t feel it necessary to go overboard with collaborations. Instead, tunes such as album-opener “Whole”, and the smart Beyoncé bounce of recent single “Impossible”, sound like monster hits waiting to happen. And the opening couplet of “Stressed OUT!” – “You close your eyes just to get away/You order fries just to get away” – is the best brilliantly deadpan doggerel since the last Human League album.
There are hints here and there that Lion Babe have the potential to step a little further from the territory they navigate on Begin but, for the moment, this likeable twist on the usual gives them a solid start.
Overleaf: Watch the video for "Impossible"
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