The Pop Corporation

DJ and producer Aïsha Vertus – you’ll be knowing her as Gayance from now – has been making solid gold bops for a while, but you need to get on their new LP ‘Mascarade’ ASAP. If having your hair stand on end and your limbs flail around wildly is your thing, then you can skip this entire review and head straight to the music.

However, if you need a little shunt in the right direction, then if you’re into UK Garage, Detroit and Chicago house, soul, spiritual jazz, ’00s R&B, cuban, and just about every dancefloor-friendly, joyful genre you can think of, then this is an album that’s going to make you beam from ear to ear.

Listen to this and feel your legs start to move of their own accord.

It’s pretty grim immediately comparing one artist to another, but honestly, we know that it’s useful to do so in case you need some convincing with a new artist. With that caveat in mind, if you’re a fan of Kaytranada and say, Solange’s more uptempo moments, you’re going to love this LP. Different from the aforementioned for sure, but there’s a quality shared there if you prick your ears up.

It’s housey for sure, but it’s every bit as soulful too. It’s pointless to try and say it’s more one than the other. Soulful house music feels like nothing new to throw out to a listener, but this is different – it’s got the deepness of say, Sault, but then with the flick of a switch, you’re head-nodding along to a skittering rhythm that’d make Timbaland & Missy Elliott jump clean out of their seats.

What’s so appealing about this long-player from Gayance is that you can feel yourself pulled toward it in a number of ways – it’d be great in a huge room full of people dancing, but equally as great somewhere sweaty and more intimate. It’d be great on the commute or while you’re making some food and dancing around the kitchen. That’s the breadth we all truly care about, isn’t it?

There’s day-glo synth boogie basslines cosying up to hot Nuyorican Soul heaters and ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ keys, all smothered in hot butter and really playful and inventive production. It’s joyful as hell, and considering Gayance (pronounced ‘guy-ence’) is the Haitian creole word for joyfulness, that’s right on the money in every way.

This is already a contender for album of 2023, and it better get its flowers from other reviewers with more clout, because in what is shaping up to be another grim year in the West, we need albums like this to pull us through – an LP filled with hope and defiance, but also, shedloads of fun and optimism.

This is cool, versatile shit and get it into your ears however you see fit. It’s available on vinyl too, for the record collector heads amongst you. Don’t miss out on this.