Ok, so the girl (Zoe) is from Montreal and the boy (Nicola) is from Venice, where should they meet and what will the music they make sound like?
Th first answer is quite obvious - New York, everybody meets there these days. And the music? Well, that is a tougher one, it has to be a mix of bits and pieces from everywhere and everything, right? Right.
And then, as with the new Mick Harvey album, the name of Serge Gainsbourg pops up again in mention with the Dizzyride’s first album... The name of one of the greatest modern music chameleons that can under from anything from pure jazz to pure pop, or pap, whichever way you want it. Dizzyride does a damn good job of emulating such a concept here. As some reviewers already pointed out, they manage to filter in everything from Cocteau Twins’ shoegaze to Afrobeat. And well at that.
The introductory “Soundtrack” is exactly that - an imaginary title theme for a movie, all Gainsbourg pop filtered through Cocteau Twins and ending with a jazzy sax. “Jungle Mix” is another giveaway title, a driving beat and Zoe’s seductive vocals with an arrangement that is not overburdened with instrumentation. “Man In A Golden Suit” is in a territory explored by another band exploring Gainsbourg’s footsteps - Liminanas, but less spoken, more sung. “Cry Your Lungs Out” is something you can call an uptempo ballad, something that could be a background for a modernized version of “Casablanca” and “Candy Lullaby” is just that, but with an Afrobeat and a drone running through it.
So you get the drift of the variety on this album, and that is only song five out of ten. What is interesting is that Dizzyride manages not to repeat themselves once, but still attain a cohesive musical concept without turning the album into a pile of disparate musical elements.
All in all, quite an impressive outing for a first album, just wets the appetite for more.
