- A good firm handshake. I was brought up on that. It’s the feeling I get from listening to U.S. Girls’ music as well. Mainly, I must admit, from having met Meg Remy post-gig once. She does have a solid handshake, but you also have the feeling she has a rock-solid constitution.
Having been intoxicated by the last U.S. Girls album Half Free back in 2015, anticipation for the latest album was high. It was the artistry in that last album that captured me: the sublime beats and defiance, especially in the track Damn That Valley or the way tracks like Window Shades soared over a dusty sample, and that voice. Remy’s voice is quite an instrument.
In A Poem Unlimited is the sixth album for Remy’s U.S. Girls project and continues the impressive story. It’s a more direct album, and the production is bigger and shinier, but not in a way that feels like a great departure. The collaboration between Remy and instrumental collective Cosmic Range is right on, and brings these songs to life groove after groove. Bowie, Talking Heads, a whole summer of disco and trip hop all come rushing at you on this release. It’s an album that will make you move, despite some of the darker themes Remy is singing about. It reminds me of the way Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes finds catharsis in dark tunes with infectious grooves.
In regards of the dark theme, the first lines in opener Velvet For Sale are pretty much the classic establishing shots for this whole album – “You’ve been sleeping with one eye open because he always could come back you know / And you’ve been walking these streets unguarded waiting for any man to explode.” How to come to terms with the violence of the patriarchy is a pervasive theme, riven throughVelvet 4 Sale, Mad As Hell and Pearly Gates. This focus gives a real power to the release, despite the fact you may just give into the groove.
Much like her handshake, Remy is the business on In A Poem Unlimited. This is an album of the times, and I’m calling it already, probably one of my albums of year. Her star has been building gradually and it’s been great to witness it. This continues the wonderful ascent of a strong and very convincing artist.
- Ian Powne.