Gorgon City’s ‘Sirens’: Album Review

It’s safe to say that London house duo Gorgon City – consisting of English beat-makers Kye “Foamo” Gibbon and Matt “RackNRuin” Robson-Scott – know a thing or two when it comes to making seriously infectious dance music. After dropping their Yasmin Shahmir-assisted track “Real” in 2013, the duo broke ground almost a year later with the release of their soul-inflected single “Ready For Your Love,” featuring the 19-year-old English songwriting prodigy MNEK. The latter not only landed them the number four spot on the UK Singles Charts, but also placed the outfit smack in the middle of Britain’s latest dance brat pack, Black Butter Records. And, to think, this is only just the start.So it’s only fitting that the duo’s debut album, Sirens(out today, October 7), strictly sticks to the heady house beats that helped their success to skyrocket. If you loved what you tasted from Gorgon City’s appetizers, then you’re in for a five-star feast with the main course.

Unlike many dance records, Sirens is incredibly cohesive. Kye and Matt make full use of their pristine pop sensibilities, blending galactic beats with their signature lush melodies. While it may seem slightly indulgent and formulaic at times, this perfectly calibrated mixture of musical elements is perhaps why the album works. What’s more, the duo has built itself a sizeable army of vocalists to assist on the LP, recruiting the likes of Katy B, Maverick Sabre, Anne-Marie, Laura Welsh and even Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson.

From the Erik Hassle-featuring bedroom slow jam “FTPA 1” to more ’90s- house-inspired goodies such as “Imagination,” Sirens is a meticulous attempt to recreate the most epic of club experiences. The album kicks off with a loop of muffled voices and Irish-English soulster Maverick Sabre riffing the words for the thumping opener “Coming Home.” The disc then grooves through a carefully carved pre-game playlist with ethereal Katy B number “Lover Like You” and the sultry “Here For You,” which receives a stunning vocal from English songbird Laura Welsh.

However, it’s really on the J-Hud dance-floor banger “Go All Night” and the anthemic single “Unmissable” that the duo hit their stride. Co-penned by Jimmy Napes, the songsmith behind Sam Smith’s breakout debut In The Lonely Hour and Disclosure‘s massive hit “Latch,” “Unmissable” officially marks the start of the nighttime debauchery that awaits.

As the record whirls through a kaleidoscope of synthy, strobe-lit house tunes, it loses it’s footing a bit as it stumbles upon the dizzying delirium of “6 AM,” featuring The Six. That proves to be rather short-lived as the album picks up the pace yet again on winding track “Elevate.”

By the time we reach Siren’s emotional close with “Hard On Me,” featuring the reoccurring Maverick Sabre, we strangely find ourselves exactly where we started 13 songs ago. Only this time around, Sabre’s echoing loop seems like a ghostly figment of our gin-and-tonic-guzzling imagination as we stagger home in the early morning hours, and everything, slowly but surely, fades to black.

Best Song That Wasn’t The Single: While “Go All Night” with Jennifer Hudson is a serious standout, it is “Hard On Me” where Kye and Matt showcase a poignant side of the album and prove that Gorgon City are not only limited to bombastic dance cuts.

Best Listened To When: You don’t want to go out, but have a serious case of “F.O.M.O” and decide to just dance around in your apartment with your friends. You’ll disturb your neighbors, but you might as well invite them to the party anyway.

Idolator Score: 4/5

— Rachel Sonis