Radioworthy pop glued to the powerful memories of adolescence and childhood.
Pop, folks. I do not mind. Everyone knows that: Those songs and artists that, as in my case, were once found absurd and irrelevant in the 80s, trigger you unexpectedly when they sound on the “Breakdancer” at the fair or on the car radio on the way to East Westphalia -Lip. They are so anchored in the brain, mostly through their sheer repetition on radio programs of the time, that they are powerfully bonded to experiences of youth, pumping up images, pain and sweet memories. I assume that the music of the British singer Rita Ora will evoke similar feelings in many people in 20 to 30 years, whether they like it or not.
On her third album YOU & I, she also remembers formative musical experiences from her childhood, so the first single “Praise You” is a reinterpretation of the Fatboy Slim classic from 1999. She was nine years old and was probably listening to the radio, while doing homework. Another small tongue-in-cheek moment comes midway through the record, where she provides an interesting response to the 1985 Eddie Murphy classic “Party All The Time” with “That Girl.”
Musically, little new is tried on this album, despite the five years that have passed since the last one. R’n’B, electro-pop, danceables, pleading vocals and Ora’s usual (really great) choral settings (“Unfeel It”). It is her most personal work to date, she says. Well, what else?