A brilliantly clever, rich, eclectic concept album and debut LP by the West London multi-media artist, fusing indie-pop, funk, hip-hop and glam rock, and themed around the character of a gender neutral alien who visits Earth to explore its self-destructivity only to get mixed up in it. La Rue had a challenging childhood, partly being in foster care in her teens, and forged her own path with music and visual arts, with influences as from Bowie to Gorillaz and Prince. With a series of entertaining videos (Lava also creates and directs them for other artists) and sci-fi soundtrack interspersing songs of synths, funky beats and various guest voices, it’s a fantastic journey from the opener into the funky Better (featuring Cuco), the psychedelic funk-soul of Manfestation Manifesto then the fabulous pop-hip-hop of Push N Shuv. Things can spacier with Starface’s Descent as the story unfolds, Aerial Head is a funky spoken word leading into other eclectic funk rock number such as Interplanetary Hoppin’. Perhaps the highlight is Lovebites, a fusion of styles with a smooth sheen of pop that has a Goldfrapp feel and a great video telling Starface falling in love, as well as the powerful chorus of Change and the fabulous bass line thrum of what comes across as, while La Rue adopts the Starface persona, a rather candid autobiographical number Humanity (“so many humans, and where’s the humanity?”). So much to explore and enjoy here. What a journey, a talent, and surely a candidate for debut album of the year. Out on Dirty Hit Records.
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