After a series of entertaining singles, the flamboyant, often masked south London artist Elliot Brett’s debut LP is full of bounce and thrust – a humorous, witty, catchy collection of stylish synth-electro-pop mainly about gay sexual adventures in the city. Opener Use It Or Lose It sets the tone as he girds his loins and with a certain tongue in cheek (or elsewhere) to make the most of his mid-twenties as he goes out on the pull (“no mans’ safe, save my dad or my brother …” but worries about becoming over 40 and “not being invited to the orgy”. The fabulously catchy, clubby New Boyfriend meanwhile complains about an ex / friend with benefits from whom he is trying to escape from habitual casual sex. The opposite end comes in What Did You Expect From) Sex With A Stranger, one which cleverly captures the heart-racing anticipation of travelling on the DLR train towards a casual encounter set up online, but worrying whether it will all go horribly wrong. The tightly catchy CPR uses the medical rescue metaphor as a heart-pumping sexual fantasy. Another extended metaphor highlight is the hilarious Casiotone-style Tennis Song, in which he fantasies about sex with his tennis instructor one that “you made a gay boy love sports that’s not easy to do”) but he ends sadly 30-love down and losing. There’s plenty of good meaty sound, such as the grinding fuzz on I Feel Like Shit, encounter stranger across the bar number Room 116, or 80s Human League-era new wave sounds in other numbers such as Small Talk or Flash In The Pan, surely an influence as well that of Missy Elliott. A fabulous, fun, spunky debut. Out on Heavenly Records.
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