★★★
London newcomer Georgia may appear at first to be a precocious M.I.A. imitator, but there’s a lot more substance hiding underneath the bravado. Bravado, yes, and swag; loads of it.
Check single ‘Move Systems’, where Georgia spits about corruption over hails of grimey and clattering percussion, filtered through production so vast it could occupy an aircraft hangar. Or when an angry mess of white noise blooms into a slithering groove in ‘Kombine’, or when she sings “We’ll never be free” over the abrasive trap beats of ‘Be Ache’. It’s not that she can’t decide whether to be angry or hopeless – she just recognises that one feeds into the other.
For the most part, her flow is discordant, clanging dramatically on the off notes, precariously toeing that line between melodic rap and drawling spoken word. After all this cage-rattling, it’s nearly surprising when she dips into the R&B-infected ‘Digits’ to wonder why her lover hasn’t called her, a tiny reminder that perhaps she’s young after all.
What this debut lacks is connectivity – changes between songs are jarring, as Georgia jumps from one skittish idea to another, clearly feeling her way through her own ideas.
It’s a mixed bag in terms of style and success, but Georgia’s debut consistently showcases real potential.
