No Romeo is the debut album by Nottingham-born, singer-songwriter Indiana. If this suggests acoustic guitars and warbling on in a vaguely folkie way, it is misleading. For while Indiana sings throughout, her musical accompaniment is electronica. Electronica that has no truck with 21st century hip hop beats or post-dubstep grooves, but often reaches back into the 90s for inspiration.
“Never Born” sees Indiana rain curses on some poor unfortunate to a tune that is initially reminiscent of veteran trip-hoppers Lamb, before it whacks up the volume to a chant of “I will rise up!” “Solo Dancing”, a hit single from earlier in the year, exudes the superior rave pop of Moloko. A pulsating groove mixes it up with hypnotic beats and sultry vocals with more heft than most tunes that are aimed at the dancefloor. “Playdead”, on the other hand, is almost folktronic before Depeche Mode-like synths take over and add some meat.
Unfortunately, No Romeo contains more than a few bits of fluff. The title track is rave pop that consciously looks to the singles chart, while holding on to Lady Gaga’s coat-tails. “Only the Lonely” also tries too hard to be commercial and doesn’t come off well. While, “Shadow Flash” offers down tempo electro pop with heavy hints of trip hop but ultimately doesn’t do the trick.
The good stuff is in the majority though and Indiana’s 2013 debut single, “Bound” has hints of Burial’s claustrophobic and disorientating textures that evolve into an icy trip hop groove, as she sings “This isn’t love. It’s dangerous”. It hasn’t got the studied cool of London Grammar, but it mines a similar sonic seam. It also suggests that Indiana could come up with great things when she finds her feet and hits some consistency.
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