Nascent dance superstar Katy B returns with second album, ‘Little Red’ – and it’s a sleek, sexy, sophisticated cocktail of deep house and R&B-tinged dance-pop. She’s come a long way since Clash profiled her as a Next Wave act in 2011.
Thematically darker than her Mercury Prize-nominated ‘On A Mission’ debut, glossier production from Geeneus suggests the girl born Kathleen Brien, still only 24, has swapped the sweat-soaked walls of Vauxhall’s grimier nightspots for the shimmering chrome of London’s super-clubs.
Brien’s voice is the beating heart of this album – it flows like molten silver to permeate the rich haze of pulsing synths and throbbing beats, nowhere more than on album highlight and lead single ‘5 AM’ (video below).
‘Little Red’ should rightly see Katy B cement her ascent to the stratosphere, joining the rest of dance music’s glitterati.
8/10
Words: Benji Taylor
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