![]() ![]() ![]() Future Nostalgia officially dropped last Friday, a week ahead of schedule thanks to a leak and the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The new album might as well be her coronation. The British pop star has been working her way back to Studio 54 ever since her tropical-house jam “New Rules” broke big on both sides of the Atlantic, first delving into deep house on Calvin Harris’ hypnotic “One Kiss” and then euphoric piano-powered house on Silk City’s “Electricity.” By lending her commanding alto to retro party music of many stripes, she has established herself as England’s dance-pop queen, and maybe the world’s. Even before she released lead single “Don’t Start Now” last fall, Dua Lipa was talking about taking inspiration from the disco era: “I feel like you could dance through the whole record,” she told The Face. Though Club Future Nostalgia lacks the joyous, adrenaline-fueled arc of the best DJ sets, it honors both Future Nostalgia’s original spirit and that album’s unintentional service as a gateway to a virtual dance floor.Future Nostalgia was meant for the club. Rather than slap together a collection of club mixes, or insert a couple of guest verses on original album cuts, the Blessed Madonna attempts to elevate the remix album above a mere cash-in, seguing the various tracks together. “Kiss and Make Up,” a bonus track from Lipa’s self-titled debut featuring Blackpink, gets a similar genre makeover, from reggaeton to rubbery pop-funk. Stefani’s distinct voice blends surprisingly well with Lipa’s throaty mezzo, though Ronson could have done one better by toning down the song’s power-pop hook in a more direct nod to Olivia Newton-John’s slinky original. Instead, the Blessed Madonna’s remix is, like Madge at her best, decidedly forward-minded-a complete reconstruction featuring skittering beats and futuristic stynths that gives both of its guests space to make the track their own.įor his part, Mark Ronson decelerates the high-energy “Physical” into a sultry midtempo jam, prompting the entire set to temporarily downshift into chillout mode. It would have been easy to use the Queen of Pop’s presence on the former track as an excuse to emulate the kind of infectious dance-pop she helped defined in the ’80s (that task has been left to the euphoric Future Nostalgia leftover “Love Is Religion”). collective Horse Meat Disco’s take on “Love Again” has a squelchy, retro charm, though it sadly scrubs the original’s lilting White Town sample.Ĭlub Future Nostalgia’s two most high-profile collaborations-“Levitating,” featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott, and “Physical,” featuring Gwen Stefani-both prove to be worthy of their pre-release buzz. ![]() One of the set’s longer cuts, Zach Witness and Gen Hoshino’s “Good in Bed,” nimbly hopscotches through its various parts before arbitrarily tacking on portions of Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance” and Art of Noise’s “Moments in Love.” The hook from Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” on “Hallucinate” likewise feels like a non sequitur, incongruously linked to Larry Heard’s sleek West End disco beats. Not all of the album’s references are as seamlessly integrated. The symphonic “Boys Will Be Boys” is amped-up with help from an infectious Latin-inflected groove and that indelible James Brown loop by way of Lyn Collins’s “Think (About It).” In just under two minutes, London DJ Jayda G transports “Cool” from its original ’80s splendor to ’90s filter-disco heaven, while two back-to-back mixes of “Pretty Please”-courtesy of Midland and MAW, respectively-segue flawlessly between U.K. Fingers alongside more contemporary mix masters like Stuart Price and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, all tasked with reimagining the songs from Future Nostalgia.Ĭlub Future Nostalgia traverses both sides of the pond, several eras, and at least a half-dozen subgenres. Part mixtape and part DJ set-curated and mixed by Kentucky-born, London-based producer the Blessed Madonna-the album features house legends like Masters at Work and Mr. Dua Lipa’s Club Future Nostalgia doubles down on its parent album’s mix of past and present. ![]()
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