– THE QUIET RIOT –

“Zoe’s Shanghai does not want you to know what’s coming” the band claim in their publicity around debut EP A Mirage (Meant to Last Forever).

Perhaps their misdirection extends to the fact that the band have apparently zero connections to China (they’re from Barcelona) and are not, despite what you may assume from their name, a solo project (in fact a four-piece comprised of lead singer and guitarist Zoé Renié, bass player Alex Molas, drummer Aurélien Landy and keyboardist Tomàs Fosch).

What they do make quite clear is their quest to be the best damn nu-soul band on the planet, powered by the phattest, funkiest new rhythm section since Hiatus Kaiyote and the best emerging set of pipes this side of Bryony Jarman-Pinto.

No Cure is the aural equivalent of sun-bathing on your own private Mediterranean island while seven virgins massage each of your chakras and a small serving-monkey called Felix feeds you oven-warmed biscuits.

So warm and melty is it that it could give London’s rail tracks a run for their money.

So kooky and charming is the sound, FaceApp should add a “Shanghai” filter and steal yet more of Gordon Ramsay’s image rights.

My personal highlight (watch the video above – it’s clearly the band’s too) comes in around the 2:30 mark when the Shanghai-sters start to sneakily straighten up the beat while slipping in some tricky time signatures to boot.

Yeah, I didn’t see that coming.

The self-released A Mirage (Meant to Last Forever) is out now.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

BRITTANY HOWARD: HISTORY REPEATS
YOUNG PILGRIMS: CANAL TRIPPING
TENESHA THE WORDSMITH: WHY WHITE FOLKS CAN’T CALL ME NIGGA
NEUE GRAFIK ENSEMBLE: HEDGEHOG’S DILEMMA

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –