Girlhood are a London duo digging into a range of artful and exultant pop sounds from just before and after Y2K. Thanks to the 20-year nostalgia cycle, that's an increasingly popular reference point, especially among Girlhood's fellow Britons, but Tessa Cavanna and Christian Pinchbeck conjure something special from the era's convergence of R&B and electronica. They tap into a distinctly British metropolitan vibe
Girlhood is like if AlunaGeorge were rooted in the organic warmth of gospel and neo-soul, and they laced their piano-led songs with lush brassy arrangements and drum patterns that bridge the gap between boom-bap and big beat. Pinchbeck likes to cite the Avalanches as an influence, and I can certainly hear some of that project's dreamy sound-collage approach in his production. But frankly Girlhood's songs are much crisper and more immediate than Since I Left You, and Cavanna is too gifted a songwriter for this album to register as anything but straightforward throwback pop music of the first order. At just 33 minutes, it's a brisk listen that will have you circling back to the beginning to start again.
Stream Girlhood below.
Girlhood is out now on Team Talk Records.
