Album Review: Ladyhawke - Wild Things

Pip Brown has made changes in both her music and her life since her last Ladyhawke album, and every one of them seems to be a step in the right direction.

The New Zealand artist's first record was a joyously eclectic collection of synth-pop gems, winning her fans around the world. However, her follow-up Anxiety was a sombre affair, and found the singer struggling to maintain her mental health in the midst of a heavy performance schedule. Wild Things is then less of a return to form, and more of a triumphant statement of rejuvenation.

There's a running theme of celebration running throughout the record that's impossible to manufacture. "Your heartache is not forever," Brown sings in the opening lyrics of the colourful title track, signalling this shift in perspective. The synthesiser melodies are equally as optimistic, traversing a full-bodied spectrum of sounds as they drive the songs into a neon-tinted future. It's simultaneously retro and space age, in the way that all the best synth music is. At its most exhilarating moments, Brown even makes it seem like the utopia is here, within the reach of a pair of earphones.

This is a project grounded in emotional maximalism, geared towards sweeping audiences up into its technicolour embrace. There's nuance in its joy and subtleties in its production, making it one of the most enjoyable alternative-pop albums this year.