The Daily Spin, December 4
St. Lucia | Utopia
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Utopia (2022)
Artist: St. Lucia
Link:
I’m beginning to see a pattern here with the albums I’ve slotted into this month of very Davidic music. Ah well, it’s good stuff. I’m sure no one will mind.
With their fourth full-length, St. Lucia hit at the exact home of what indie dance pop can and should sound like - and though it doesn’t necessarily work over the full form of the record, at its peak, this is exactly as advertised - dancing at the edge of the world.
One of the main points of detraction for me is where St. Lucia try and slow it down - ‘Memory’ stands out a bit in this regard - though the RAC-styled synths and sweeping string arrangements seem like they would fit right up my alley, I wind up coming out of it deflated more than anything, because St. Lucia have always been at their best when there’s a sort of exhilarating joy to their music - the type where you’re compelled to keep your foot on the gas.
Thankfully, much of Utopia tends to have a little more energy to it - in part, I think, as an attempt to curate the hypersonic feeling of life - everything is always so much, all the time, and I have to give credit to St. Lucia for pretty effectively nailing this sentiment.
St. Lucia holds out two options for you - you can stare back at the abyss looking at you, or you can let the worry fade a little bit and celebrate the insanity of it all - and when the party sounds this good, I’m not sure why you’d pick anything else.
Rating: 8.7/10
Best Tracks: Gimme The Night; The Golden Age; Touch
Worst Tracks: Memory