Nocturnes… Not quite as good as Chopin’s

Review: Little Boots – Nocturnes

Published on May 11th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

Nope, don’t get it. It’s just a clubbier, ’90sier Florence and the Machine, isn’t it? Produced by DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy, Victoria Hesketh’s second album as Little Boots has little of substance about it behind the artifice of ‘crossover’, which really boils down to a rather conservative form of disparate styles. It’s Moloko minus the good tunes, basically.

Well, there is one good tune on Nocturnes: Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, or “Broken Record” as it’s listed here, possibly because someone noticed the absurdity of associating the title “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” with such an eminently forgettable tune. “Broken Record” is definitely a more appropriate title, so well done on that count.

Sorry, that’s a cheap shot. There are actually some nice harmonies on “Broken Record”, but it’s pretty much as good as this album gets. “Motorway”, for example, tiptoes around the brink of inane and then plunges right into with its ‘meet me on the motorway and let’s escape together’ premise, while “Satellites” must surely be taking the piss with “What goes up has to come down / For now my head keeps turning round”. Cue unsettling images of Hesketh’s head revolving like in The Exorcist.

Wait…make that two good tunes! We forgot about “All That She Wants” by Ace of Base, or “All For You” as it’s called here. Good to hear that one getting another run out.

“Love is darkness” Hesketh informs us on “Every Night I Say a Prayer”, but it’s hard to take her at her word when she then goes on to sing “I see into the future” over a bad ’80s backdrop. Little Boots may be better than dross like Marina and the Diamonds but it’s utterly uninspiring, sleekly dull disco/house pop nonetheless.

Rocksucker says: One and a Half Quails out of Five!

Nocturnes is out now on On Repeat.

You can buy Nocturnes on iTunes and on Amazon.

For more information, please visit the official Little Boots website.

Artists: little boots

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.