Groove Armada – White Light

Admittedly it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Groove Armada. It was not so long ago that their chill-out tunes graced every dinner party compiliation in England. However, after the successful release of Black Light earlier this year, Groove Armada are certainly reclaiming their position as masters of the electro genre.

White Light is a re-working of the aforementioned album. It has been enlarged and been given a live vibe, reminiscent of their performance at Glastonbury this year. Opener Warsaw most definately has a festival feel to it with no shortage of laser effects to get us in the dancing mood. In some ways this is quite a departure from their previous lounge music releases, however, second track Time & Space takes us back to classic Groove Armada, circa Superstylin, with Jessica Larrabee’s (from She Keeps Bees) vocals floating wonderfully over the electronic beats of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. It is from here that I feel the album picks up as Andy and Tom weave their magic again, sending us back to summer’s past.

For me, the stand out track is Look Me In The Eye Sister with its slightly more rocky feel to it. Larrabee’s vocals are again very strong in what is sure to be a crowd-pleaser on the club scene. Hotly anticipated History (Love remix) is a solid way to end a solid album, despite the Cher-esque singing, it was a classic G.A tune that left me wanting to revisit their back catalogue.

I think it’s fair to say that Groove Armada have recaptured much of their live experience and past success on White Light, however they have balanced this with an easy-listening vibe that wouldn’t be out of place on a Come Dine With Me compilation cd.

www.groovearmada.com