Groove Armada – Black Light
‘Black Light’ is the sixth studio album by the London electronic duo Groove Armada. ‘Black Light’ combines the more mainstream-oriented sound of its predecessor, ‘Soundboy Rock’, with the rock spirit of ‘Lovebox’, and the band makes use of 1980s synthesizers for the first time. The album is influenced by the likes of David Bowie, Bronski Beat, Fleetwood Mac, Gary Numan, New Order and Roxy Music.
‘Black Light’ sounds like it was buzzed in from of the early 2000s, completely and happily uninfluenced by the preceding years of dance music development. It ends up being an acutely traditional Groove Armada album: The token slow jam (“Shameless”) and the droning, delirious lover’s romp (“I Won’t Kneel”) are all here, crushed with those familiar slabs of grimy, effusive, and occasionally lovelorn electro. No, it doesn’t push the genre forward; in fact, it probably pushes it back, but ‘Black Light’ impeccably delivers on everything you could possibly want from the iconic band.
