Peaches n’ Cream
What’s a good way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Margarita, check. Guacamole, check. Peaches’ latest album, I Feel Cream… well, if it wasn’t on your check list, it should be. On her fourth full-length album, Peaches gives us new dimensions to her sound. Here, she is effortlessly cool. Although she produced the record, Peaches enlisted help from Soulwax, Simian Mobile Disco, Drums of Death, Digitalism, Shapemod, and tried writing with Gonzales for the first time.
There are three songs from the album available for your listening pleasure at http://www.myspace.com/peaches entitled “More,” “Talk to Me,” and the title track, “I Feel Cream.” Only having this small sample from the record, which includes 12 tracks, makes for a difficult judgment. I can’t say that these tracks alone are enough to make me want to buy the album, but the songs are enough to make me want to hear them again. They’re the kind of tunes you can drink and dance to until 3 am.
“More” is a good late night driving track – it creates an ambiance. Flowing between tempos, Peaches takes things up into trans beats, then holds back into a slower pace. Beginning with a monotone repetition of sounds, the song builds on its sparse beginnings making it interesting. As with the other two songs I’ve heard off this record, there is no deep hidden meaning in the lyrics, but it will get you moving.
On first listen, the song “Talk to Me” sounds amateur compared to what we’re used to from Peaches, but it grew on me. It’s a good angry girl song with lyrics like “What you’re thinking I will never know, now’s the time for you to let it go.” It’s an anthem for the girl who’s pissed off at the guy she’s dating for not calling… after she sees him necking a hot blond at a bar. Definitely a song to get all the ladies dancing in a circle around their shoes and purses at a club. (ED Note - I have never seen anyone dance around their shoes and purses at a club....oh wait, I don't go to clubs....)
Out of the three tracks I was able to listen to, “I Feel Cream” is hands down my favorite; that would probably still be the case had I been able to hear the entire record. Here Peaches’ musical influences become obvious. “I Feel Cream” is like the love child of Blondie and Eurythmics. The down tempo vocals combined with the up tempo rhythm creates an odd juxtaposition, but it works.
Despite her collaborations with such a large group of artists on this album, Peaches says, “I never gave up creative control. I was working with strong people,” she says, “and I also have very strong opinions.” Apparently so, because everything we know and love about Peaches’ music is still present, but with a new sophistication.
