It’s a great shame that the stand-outs on ‘Body Music’ are buried in amongst some incredibly disappointing and average filler material when there’s so much potential for something great here.

London based duo AlunaGeorge have been making waves after their triumphant collaboration on Disclosure’s single ‘White Noise’, as well as reaping plenty of praise for their breakthrough EP ‘Your Drums Your Love’.

‘Body Music’ is the first long player for Aluna Francis and George Reid and there is no denying that the pair are on to a good thing. The record is an easily digested blend of RNB-styled grooves and robot pop, as well as house, UK bass and garage influences liberally applied throughout. There’s even a cheeky bonus version of ‘This Is How We Do It’ by Montell Jordan, which is given a sassy noughties revamp; Francis’s vocals surprisingly complement the 90s classic.

Sophomore single ‘Attracting Flies’is cleverly crafted pop for people who insist they can’t stand pop music; there’s a hint of early Lily Allen to the lyrics and it gives what could have easily been an utterly pedestrian tune some grit and guts. What becomes glaringly apparent throughout the course of ‘Body Music’ is the ability of Francis’s vocals to go from girlish and sweet to plain annoying. This isn’t helped by the banality of some of the lyrics, which seem to revolve more or less around failed relationships, among other well trodden themes, but interest in the lyrical content wanes too quickly to warrant much more attention.

However, tracks like ‘You Know You Like It’keep things from falling too far below board; a tight RNB groove pared back with modern touches like fluttering synths and a robust bass line show that the pair can really nail their pastiche of influences when they’re not getting carried away with trying to be too quirky.

2/5 stars

BY MARISSA DEMETRIOU

Body Music is out now through island UK/UMA.

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