- One of Montreal's most prolific collaborators finds a sound entirely her own on an EP of lush poppy house.
- I'm sure music journalists like me will be rushing to christen every poppy dance track the next "B.O.T.A." for years to come. I'd like to make the case, at a somewhat smaller scale, for "Hot Gossip." "B.O.T.A." tapped into Britain's pop culture zeitgeist—since the late 90s, UK garage has hovered on the edge of the mainstream, and Eliza Rose was able to give the genre just enough pop for the charts, but also enough bite to keep the clubs pumping. "Hot Gossip," from Montreal's Regularfantasy does something similar, with heritage from disco's second city. The track is a Lime Light anthem reimagined for 2022: there's a glittery and vintage luster to the keys and electric guitar loop while the buzzing, polychromatic synths flip it into modern disco house at its brightest. "Hot Gossip" is just one of the highlights of New Glow, a record that arrives on Vancouver label Specials with production assists from PC Music's Cecile Believe and fellow Montrealer Priori.
Regularfantasy's previous releases have hinted at her songwriting chops before. Underneath the New Age veneer of Sunsets And Sublets and the deep house patina of her EP as half of Ciao were moments of pure pop gold that quickly diffused in incense smoke, not to mention the vocal-heavy live sets that originally made her famous in Canada. On New Glow, she really goes for it, and her vocals steal the show. Take the opener, "So Sweet." Over a lazy house rhythm her lyrics oscillate between irony ("I feel so chemically bonded to you") and the observational shrewdness of someone like Dan Bejar ("Still wearing those worn-out gym shoes" sounds strangely romantic on the track). She sells each line as she shifts from the spoken word deadpan of the verses into higher notes, accented with chopped-up vocals lines on the chorus.
Her falsetto on "Options" is even more impressive, and saves the track from wading too close to sounding like a hipster refix of Eiffel 65 (especially with that "la da de da" and trancey breakdown). On "Not Real," Regularfantasy channels her inner Erika de Casier as she dusts off a potential gaslighter over a syncopated garage swing: "It's not real just 'cause you say it is." On a record this strong you don't necessarily need remixes, but they're here: D. Tiffany's version of "Maybe Nevermind" fills the track with proggy melodies while Cecile Believe turns "So Sweet" into a hyperpop sugar rush. By contrast, each of the originals is filled with nuance and feeling.
As both a collaborator and a solo artist, Regularfantasy has quite the CV, with 12-inches for the likes of Mood Hut and Total Stasis and ongoing collaborations with D. Tiffany as Plush Management Inc and Plush Throw, among other projects. This doesn't even touch on the stream of straight-to-cassette mixtapes she's put out over the years. Still, New Glow feels like a milestone for Regularfantasy, hands down her most accomplished solo release. While I doubt "Hot Gossip" is going to top the CBC charts, I'm sure it'll be sending Datcha into a flurry.
Tracklist01. So Sweet
02. Maybe Nevermind
03. Hot Gossip
04. Not Real
05. So Sweet (Cecile Believe's Pixie Mix)
06. Maybe Nevermind (D.Tiffany's Late Night Mix)