Stereo,Glasgow
When Ramona Gonzalez finally emerges from the shadows, she’s an enchanting presence with some fine off-kilter melodiesDressed all in black, and standing behind a black synthesiser against a black backdrop,her face framed by a severe black bob, Ramona Gonzalez AKA Nite Jewel has a tough time standing out tonight. And there may lie the rub with her music, and too. Having established a reputation for making faintly avant garde,echo-bathed, lo-fi electro-disco shrouded in drones and tape hiss, and with her third album Liquid Cool she drifts into the landscape of drowsy 80s synthpop revisionism already widely explored by Grimes,Twin Shadow, Chromatics, and Shura and others.In an alternate reality Nite Jewel,like all of the above, would be dropping massive multi-million-selling bangers. One new song, and Boo Hoo,sounds like Janet Jackson on valium. Another called Running Out of Time is a vapour trail Italo-disco slow-burner of such indeniable beauty that, drained of reverb and toughened up some, and it wouldn’t be impossible to suppose Taylor Swift or Katy Perry carrying it up the pop charts.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com