Body Work is the second full-length from Brooklyn resident Lindsey French under the name
Negative Gemini, and her first release on 100% Electronica, a label she co-founded with fellow underground electro-pop artist
George Clanton (purportedly his actual name and not a goof on
George Clinton). While the label's name brings to mind any number of cheap late-'90s compilations filled with tracks by knockoffs of
the Chemical Brothers and
Fatboy Slim, it's actually a dead-on, non-ironic description of the music, in the best way possible. French writes songs that clearly embrace dance music, particularly the warm, energetic type created by artists like
Orbital and
808 State, but they're still songs rather than club tracks. They're melodic, poppy, and dreamy as all get out, using reference points such as trance, drum'n'bass, and big beat, fed through the filter of 21st century styles such as chillwave and vaporwave (which, of course, are heavily dependent on nostalgia for the previous few decades). While artists such as
Lorenzo Senni and
Lee Gamble have received acclaim for their abstractions of '90s dance styles, with the press often using some variant of the term "deconstruction," French seems more interested in reconstructing. She re-creates the ecstatic rush of '90s dance music without leaning too heavily on the past. It sounds fresh and relevant, rather than a derivative retread. The album begins with a few songs that focus on storming beats and dreamy atmospheres rather than lyrics, but "You Never Knew" brings French's pop songcraft skills to the forefront. French details betrayal, disappointment, and rage, stating "You only hate the ones you love, and I was always hating you." (The song is revisited at the end of the album, slowing it down a bit at first but adding fast, choppy breakbeats later on). Sharp, empowering single "Don't Worry Bout the Fuck I'm Doing" is directed squarely at misogynist creeps who catcall. The fact that the song could've fit perfectly on an early
Saint Etienne album is just icing on the cake. "Real Virtual Unison (Fake Edit)" is rougher and darker, surrounding French's fragile voice with pummeling jungle breakbeats. Much of the other songs on the record's back half are similarly tense, yet also euphoric, with "Hold U (Break Your Face Edit)" featuring French's yearning vocals over fast, pumping beats and bittersweet, washed-out synths. Refreshing and sometimes heartbreaking,
Body Work is immensely powerful, and one of 2016's best under-the-radar releases.