Album Review: SAFIA - Internal

After dominating Groovin The Moo in 2013, SAFIA told one interviewer that they really just want to make people dance.

Appropriately, they have been touring pretty much relentlessly ever since. Now that they have turned their attention to a much anticipated full-length album, that project is still alive and well.

Internal is textured, measured and serves up plenty to dance to. It also shows off the Canberra trio's impressive range: there are club grinds, chill arvo grooves, hooks and slow builds, they know when to be fast and when to be slow, when to set the pace and when to relax into it. Crisp, clean beats are layered with self-conscious digital effects and distortion, off-set by vocalist Ben Woolner's warm, limber falsetto.

As a whole, the album shows off the kind of control and pacing that you would expect from a group that has such a commitment to live sets. Zion kicks off the album as a heavy-hitting club track that pays homage to the group's history and homeland (dancefloor ready, didgeridoo) before settling into smooth, drippy, R&B informed electronica. The album's first single, Embracing Me, sets the tone with its warmth and chirpiness. In keeping with their ear for pace, they bury Make Them Wheels Roll, one of the album's catchiest tracks, all the way at track nine — experimenting with reggae rhythms along the way before tying it all together on Home. A warm echo of Zion, Home, like Internal, feels like a step forward.