Noga Erez first attracted attention with her 2017 album
Off the Radar, and its funky, mischievously defiant title track. She's even more confident on
Kids, a sleek set of songs that is far from predictable. Though the Tel Aviv-based singer, songwriter, and producer is still more than capable of rallying cries -- "Fire Kites" recalls her debut album's "Dance While You Shoot," which challenged the safety of her hometown despite its nearness to a warzone -- this time her perspectives are wider as well as more personal. She hones in on the value of identity and independence, bidding farewell to toxic people and ideas on songs like "CIPI" and "Bark Loud," a manifesto whose sidewinding groove and clanging percussion prove the comparisons to
M.I.A. are apt. However,
Erez's style is more distinctive than ever on "You So Done," where squealing strings and squalling trumpets are the equal and opposite reaction to her deadpan sneer. On songs like this and "End of the Road," where she puts the guarantee that we're all going to die in a surprisingly positive light, she expands on the playfully ominous feel that made "Off the Radar" so striking. "Kids" stomps around with a cartoonish menace; "Switch Me Off" imbues a standoff between lovers with plenty of filmic drama; and even the tongue-in-cheek perkiness of "NO news on TV" feels slightly sinister.
Kids' high-stakes feel is intensified by the rap influences
Erez incorporates into the album. This includes her sharp-tongued spitting -- a skill she developed as part of her therapy for anxiety -- on "Knockout" and "VIEWS," an animated piece of social commentary that also features
Reo Cragun and her partner, producer
ROUSSO. With
Kids,
Erez makes a significant leap forward from
Off the Radar. Though she still sounds like an outsider, the skill she displays on these songs suggest she shouldn't be one for long. ~ Heather Phares