Trading in their urbanite indie for something slinkier, north London trio Girl Ray have been inspired by the heady clublands of 1970s and 80s New York, offering their third album as a direct tribute to queer dance-pop culture.
Blending new wave and hi-NRG influences, everything about Prestige plays as fun-loving homage. The toot-toot, beep-beep of Tell Me or the Jive Talkin’ strut of Love Is Enough seem purpose-built for festival season: feelgood grooves that don’t require prior familiarity to get a crowd moving. Hold Tight is a millennial fusion of Wham, Haim and the Bangles, while closer Give Me Your Love pairs retro vocoder with bright steel pans, lovably propulsive as it builds across eight twinkling minutes.
Amid such slick, aerodynamic production, Poppy Hankin’s vocal is a welcome grounding force, her husky tone adding humanity and flourish to the album’s open-ended themes of late-night love and lust. The sonic influences are worn a little too plainly for Prestige to feel like a landmark release, but by borrowing from musical history with such care and respect, Girl Ray have made an album that is very difficult not to raise a smile – or a frosty Midori sour cocktail – to.
