Little Boots: 'Hands'

June has arrived! Finally it is time for the highly anticipated albums set to give electro pop its rebirth and dominate the soundscape of 2009, and pop in general. This three-pronged attack is headed by Victoria Hesketh aka Little Boots (La Roux and Florence and the Machine await hotly on her heels). Hailing from Blackpool and a failed Pop Idol contestant doesn’t bode well; yet she has had accolades literally thrown her way over the course of the past year. With such hype there is only one way to go and that’s down. The question is will the parachute open for a safe landing or is it a crash landing with no hope of recovery? Thankfully the former is more appropriate. ‘Hands’ is nowhere near as raw and experimental as promised; in fact, it’s as commercial as they come, a big, brazen pass at daytime radio and gay discos, produced to within an inch of its life. However, once over the initial realization that she is not the second coming or creator of some sub-genre of pop meshing minimalist Japanese music with Joni Mitchell, then it delivers on a 80’s induced retro voyage. Some of these could be off the latest Lilly Allen or Kylie album, just listen to ‘Ghost’ and ‘Remedy’ for starters. However, she provides her unique angle and ‘Symmetry’, ‘Stuck on Repeat’ and ‘Earthquakes’ see her at the top of her game. The rest is catchy and solid. ‘Meddle’, a bizarre industrial mix of what appears to be a Daft Punk-Eurovision Contest hybrid is odd but is hard to dislike at the same time. A solid debut which didn’t disappoint although I await her rivals with baited breath.