Album review: Dragonette - Galore

Dragonette - Galore (2007)

When acquired: at Xmas one year, 2007 or 2008

As the noughties drew to a head I can remember that there was a great deal of electronic pop music that I really loved. The two tracks that come to mind most prominently are Girls Aloud’s ‘Call The Shots’ and Sugababes’ ‘About You Now.’ Both conveyed a sense of urgency that seemed to mesh well with the second half of undergraduate university life; celebratory as it was one of the most carefree times of my life, where I was finding my feet as an adult, yet also melancholy, tinged with the knowledge that these days were numbered and the shadows of the adult world were building up on the horizon.

I’m a massive fan of pop music but have rarely, if ever, indulged in acquiring an album that belongs outrightly to that genre. A notable exception to this rule was Dragonette’s Galore. I was introduced to the band by my housemate in Exeter, Matt Voss, who was a big fan of one of their songs in particular, ‘True Believer.’ After being exposed to this torch song on multiple occasions I did a quick bit of online research (those days consisting of a visit to MySpace) and the other tracks available to listen to convinced me that this would make my Xmas list that year.

At the time, I was obsessed with ‘True Believer.’ It fitted comfortably into my poppy inclinations alongside Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Britney Spears and all that, but at the same time had a type of prestige that I was drawn to at the time in that it was a song by not just proper musicians but ones that had somehow evaded the mainstream. This song, which seemed quite capable of conquering commercial radio, had an electricity to it that comes with being largely unheard of.

As things stand, it looks as though ‘True Believer’ will be the very last song I ever play as a DJ. As a committee member of Exeter University’s indie society, I was afforded the opportunity to DJ at events; this was great and it give me a platform to passively rail against the increasingly hip direction the society was going (or was it that I was losing faith in the mainstream indie scene in 2007/2008?). As other members would play stuff that they liked over what the majority of people knew, I thought, screw it, I’m going to play Dragonette. I don’t think anyone noticed.

After all this, Xmas came round and one of my presents was Galore, the debut album from the Canadian popsters. It was a revelation. Most of the pop albums I had heard previously tended to follow a strict formula; open the album with 4 or so killer chart hits, then have the record fade away into a stodgy mass of dull filler (no doubt I will be reviewing one or two of these later). Not so with Galore.

Sure, it opens up with ‘I Get Around’, a striding electro-pop pounder that struts while detailing a one-night stand. The “here I go” refrain sounds simultaneously triumphant and mournfully inevitable while being driven along by strident beats. This then gives way to a further two songs that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Top 40 before we arrive at ‘True Believer,’ but the quality continues on from here.

There’s a level of ambivalence at work in Galore that elsewhere could represent weak writing, but here feels representative of depth. Frontlady Martina Sorbara seemingly teeters on the edge of empowerment. In ‘Jesus Doesn’t Love Me’, she sings of a “little bit of dirty down in my soul” and calls to be cleansed of her sins, but the repeated calling of drugs, sex, and rock ’n’ roll and the song’s chorus is defiantly celebratory in the face of judgement.

Empowering lyrics are not rare, but what makes these songs stand out against other pop efforts and gives them a feeling of depth is the way in which many of the songs are constructed, and how their dynamics shift. Case in point is track two, ‘Competition,’ where the pace develops slowly from that of playground taunting to desperate urgency. The pace shift lends a vulnerability to Sorbara’s words and keeps the listener engaged.

There is also a range of stylings and pacing across the album to keep you hooked for the running time. As well as the aforementioned tracks, Galore manages to cram in slower ballads, twee swung whimsy and jerky musings alongside more powerful pop, and still feels like cohesive work throughout.

Sorbara revels in her self-appointed role as a tortured, fallen soul, glorying in delivering tales of promiscuity, yearning and empowerment. Galore offers a powerful array of passionate couplings; dark and light, innocent and guilty, requited and denied. It delivers them in dripping abundance.

Check out: ‘True Believer,’ ‘Take It Like A Man,’ ‘I Get Around.’