Girl Ray – Prestige
Girl Ray are back with a work of loving homage that just falls a little flat
Prestige is a loving homage, saturated with disco sounds meant to evoke the liberation and celebration of the 80s New York scene. It has all the component parts we associate with that era (Nile Rodgers’ iconic guitar chugging features heavily), without feeling in any way celebratory.
The record is resolute in its pacing, maintaining a continuous bpm between songs but never gaining driving force from the bass as the best disco does. Nothing ever feels like it’s at risk.
Of course other bands in the last decade have gone for a disco revival sound that lacks a little of that same oomph. But where Prestige differs from the work of, for example, Parcels is that it has borrowed so much from the source material, and changed so little, as to invite uncomfortable comparison to the joie de vivre of the original.
Prestige still has some pretty enjoyable moments. Give Me Your Love has dense layers of house-esque piano chords with astral vocal turns and springing synth patterns that you can imagine would sound great live. It’s an interesting exploration – hopefully we’ll see more of that next time.
Listen to: Everybody’s Saying That, Hold Tight, Give Me Your Love