Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of.
Week of 10/18/2013
WHO: St. Lucia
WHAT: When The Night
SPOT: 191
WHY?: When we were struggling to come up with an act that St. Lucia reminds us of, our coworker accurately compared the act's sound to Toto's 1982 hit "Africa." Indeed, the synthesizers and group harmonies that build up during such tracks as "Wait For Love" and "Closer Than This" evoke the seminal '80s hit.
Another coworker, our office partner Jon "Union Jack" Niles gave When The Night, the first full-length LP from Brooklyn-by-way-of-South-Africa performer Jean-Philip Grobler, a glowing review last week on Mstars News. However, during his description, he referred to the album as a "genre-redefining" album. Although we hesitate to call out our friend and compatriot, we prefer the term "genre-resurrecting" to describe St. Lucia's music.
The unique percussion elements, the synthesizers, Grobler's cool-pop falsetto; all of it points to a new wave revival. And frankly, it makes sense. Just as disco is seeing a hip comeback thanks to artists such as Daft Punk and Kavinsky, Grobler and Kavinsky have pumped some new blood into old ideas, and there's nothing wrong with that. When The Night is electronic dance music that doesn't require raving.
