Album Review: Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita

Casually dropping their first album in seven years, Gang Gang Dance are back in business with an album that largely picks up from where they left off.

Kazuashita, which roughly translates from Japanese into 'peace tomorrow', sees Gang Gang Dance still inspired enough to create a future-proof sound that takes us at warp speed into fascinating experimental unknowns. Ostensibly a rock band working hypnotic shoegaze vibes, Gang Gang Dance are also synth heavy in ambient dub, hip hop, bass and music flavours. Despite obvious influences, Gang Gang Dance have a talent for making everything they produce sound alien and strangely new. World music references give them global reach but it's mashed up in a kind of fluorescent urban tribalism that feels globalised rather than localised. While their soundscapes transport us to fantastical places, the ethereal reach of Lizzi Bougatsos' vocals makes her presence on this album simply bewitching.

Kazuashita draws us in with its shimmering science fiction textures but its mysterious nature is also distant and not easily understood. ( Novae Terrae ) comes with the terror of lurking menace but the joyous fireworks of Salve On The Snow is a dreamy triumph.

Reminiscent of some of the best Cocteau Twins, the sheer beauty and mystery of Kazuashita makes it feel like a timeless classic.