<p><span><span>- GL are definitely on a retro-tip (but who isn't right now?!). Maybe that's just what happens when crate digging vinyl-fetishists and encyclopaedic club DJs combine with the always-available digital archive. Artists discover that the style they want to create isn't a niche so much as a cavernous gorge allowing them to dive deeper and deeper into what was once thought to be a hyper-specific sub-classification for the specialists only.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>GL has already played just about every major festival in Oz and many outside too. <strong>Graeme Pogson</strong> (the G in GL) has played on albums by funk pop powerhouse <strong>Dru Chen</strong>, prog-punk-jazz maestro <strong>Kumar Shome</strong>, and oldskool funk institution <strong>The Bamboo</strong>s, where he and <strong>Ella T</strong> started working together. Thompson's debut long-player <em>Janus</em> was hailed as endlessly creative, amping her cred bigtime; and that was before she got invited on <strong>Mark Ronson</strong>'s <em>Uptown Funk</em> tour.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Sophomore GL long-player <em>You Read My Mind</em> is richly crafted, skilfully executed and slicker than silicon. Shinier than mirrorshades on emdee this is the stuff that the AI in <em>Black Mirror</em>'s San Junipero would generate for the club with the turquoise and pink flouro. The boogie-down electro pop stylings will make you pine for <strong>John Hughes</strong> films that don't exist, beach-side summer's you never had and the missing sequel to <em>Xanadu</em> made by the <strong>Wachowski Sisters</strong>.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Still, with the exception of off-kilter rhythms in experimental synthpop number <em>All in My Head</em>, it's all, well, pretty safe. Immaculately produced, precisely arranged, tastefully selected sonics, every retro-analog synth stab and drum-machine flourish is practically perfect, but are they in command of the genre or is the genre in command of them? The depth of talent and expertise on display is undeniable, but I can't help but wonder what would happen if they decided <em>not</em> to keep in their lane. Then again, this is clearly rock-solid bankable, bookable music that is one, big, non-stop rolling euphoric festival peak moment, and that's something we all could use a little dose of right now.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>You Read My Mind</em> is out on Thompson's own <strong>Pool</strong> imprint, and could easily be the sundrenched soundtrack to every summer party you go to this year.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Kieran Ruffles.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4016794512/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://glgl.bandcamp.com/album/you-read-my-mind-2">You Read My Mind by GL</a></iframe>