The Pop Corporation

There was a collective feeling that, in the period that was post-girl group, that while the solo singers and artists were all well and good, we were in the mood for a new pop group of some kind. We’ve seen a huge amount of impressive R&B solo stars and soul-adjacent singers, but when you’re listening to your albums by All Saints and Destiny’s Child, and revelling in the comeback of The Sugababes, it sure would be nice to have some new songs filled with hooks and harmony to listen to.

Of course, Little Mix ruled the roost in that tricky interim period for a while, but frankly, we were looking for something a little more mature and savvy.

Along came Flo, who were all about throwback R&B jams and impossibly tight three-part harmony rundowns in acoustic sets and they were confident and charismatic, but hadn’t quite tipped over into mega-stardom. Yet. After teaming up with Missy Elliott and the ‘3 of Us’ EP, there was a lot to love, but now, we’ve got the group’s first full-length debut LP – ‘Access All Areas’.

Naturally, there’s a lot of vocal gymnastics and oodles of sass – because that’s what you want from a soulful girl group and they know it – but with a long player, they’re keen to show some maturity with their pop-sensibilities. They want to show those that extol the virtues of why Kelly Rowland might be the actual voice in Destiny’s Child where it’s at, rather than appeal to those looking for, say, a new version of The Saturdays (‘All Fired Up’ is still an all-time banger, before you think we’re slating anyone).

This stance from Flo has seen them getting co-signed by some big hitters, notably Ariana Grande who shared the girls doing one of her songs. Maybe that’s how the new LP ended up kicking off with a monologue from Cynthia Erviro who stars in the Wicked movie with Grande? There’s also GloRilla, just to show that they’re aligning guest spots with their tastes. Rather than some lame facsimile of R&B, they displaying nods to SWV and Mary J Blige, over 16 tracks.

With Erviro, we’re told that “Planet Earth was in dire need of bad bitch replenishment”, and if that doesn’t tell you what Flo are aiming for, nothing will.

For this nostalgia to a golden age of R&B, we need two things – swaggy dancefloor-ready tracks, and slow jams. All the greats were able to straddle both of these things – think of TLC and Usher – and it’s obvious that Flo aren’t messing around and paying lip service. The fact is that, regardless of whether any lofty ambitions are being met or not, the charts are infinitely better for having these three women in them. There’s a confidence to them that is not in anyway phoney, which is something other stabs at cook-out R&B revivalists have fallen foul of.

With ‘Check’, we hear good honest pop paired up with a Miami Bass-lite, which is infectious and fun. There’s something very classically Beyonce & Co about “So all my friends ask me, “Is he’s loyal?” (Check) “He spoil you?” (Check) “Does he clear that” (check?) “Before you met him, did you do your background” (check?) “Is he faithful?” (Check) “Gentleman?” (Check) The way I trust him, I ain’t gotta check.“

Sure enough, there’s enough uptempo numbers and some seriously seductive mid-tempo come-ons, but one thing that would really elevate the LP to the next level is some of that late ’90s/early ’00s weirdness. Those chopped bhangra samples and broken Timbaland beats that made R&B sound like it was beamed from the future was a high watermark for pop, and while Flo have made a fine album, you feel that a little more experimental edge would have made this an instant classic.

That’s nitpicking though, because where its needed, this album delivers on big-ass choruses, chunky bottom-end and genuinely awesome layered harmonies that have echoes of En Vogue and even Blackstreet. While many R&B groups can come a cropper of sticking one singer to the front, who might overdo it while the others dutifully provide back-up, that’s not the case with Flo. They’re a unified outfit, vocally, and when they get their turn in the spotlight, it’s impressive without being a competition in out-singing the rest, and that’s a sincerely pleasing thing, especially with single ‘AAA’.

Renee Downer, Jorja Douglas, and Stella Quaresma have made a very solid, very impressive R&B album that wears its influences on its sleeve – and that’s no bad thing – and its no surprise that they have amassed a dedicated following in the process of each release. They’re right to be confident too, making music that is designed to uplift and make eyes at you with, when the rest of the world feels like a complete mess. It’s retro, sure, but still a contemporary album. It’s one that solidifies what they are, but you feel there’s definitely more in the tank. Groundbreaking, not so much – a fun album to listen to? You bet.

If ‘Access All Areas’ is a solid foundation in which to build on, it’ll be cool to see if they make some choices left-of-centre on any future cuts.