With such commitment to an aesthetic, Lion Babe never overlooks emotional content. A striking video immediately setting them apart, the detail is fundamentally in the music. It remains an intoxicating fusion of jazz and other blurry-eyed mid-tempo substances. MWTV: Ryland James and John Cameron MitchellĪn early glimpse of their riveting RNB genius, “Treat Me Like Fire,” was a debut single four years ago. With yet more deceptively bare bones production values, both “Got Body” and the slinkier still “Impossible” snap into shape with self-assured taunting, chanting and sound like mixing together the legendary FannyPack with an on form Destiny’s Child. “Lurking and thriving as avant garde RNB cult favorites, Lion Babe is an incredibly engaging breath of fresh air.” With sparse beats that reverberate with airy echoes, the song retains the group’s relaxed bohemian trance in an unhurried manner. “Hold On” gleams with plush atmospherics and witchy coos. Its lush setting and rich vocal sorcery create a wonderful and haunting momentum. With frantic beats cushioned by soft synths, the juxtaposition keeps the song going off the rails. “On the Rocks” is suitably sharper-edged. A hair-blowing-in-the-wind flow of high-flying gusto, the execution overwhelms the lyrical uncertainty into one of no longer caring. On the sensual disco sigh of “Where Do We Go,” the duo lovingly forge a tribute to ’70s nightclubs using thicker ’80s RNB grooves, resulting in the album’s biggest chorus. The key lyric “Can you satisfy me? Can you survive me?” almost revels in artistic singularity and scattered influences. The loungy orchestration “Satisfy My Love” meanders in and out of groove and focus, melding together offbeat spontaneity with sleek sonics. Positioned between a reverence for classic RNB with an austere, disjointed sense of modernity, Hervey purring “I am a woman of the future” illustrates Lion Babe’s determination to tap into its own language and intentions. The densely minimal “Stressed Out” feels off the cuff, but is still steeped in pervasive atmospheric tendencies. Whether the Billboard Hot 100 will ever be their natural habitat or not remains to be seen, but the Paloma Faith style wail of “Wonder Woman” is their most viable prospect so far. At approximately two-and-a-half minutes in length, the less-is-more approach is one that comes to define the whole album.
High on smouldering lust, its drawl-like chorus and wordless free-floating, studio-processed vocal runs are as alluring as they are otherly.
Propelled by a striking sci-fi styled introduction, “Whole” proudly pursues a less-than-obvious pop structure and sounds like a transmission received from a distant planet. They spend the majority of their time on their debut album Begin ( ) trying on different outfits, making each track sound impulsive and itching to show off, all the while remaining thematically consistent to their own vision.
If neo-soul is an umbrella-like genre for a variety of influences such as jazz, soul, RNB and funk, Lion Babe takes this idea and runs with it. Instead, it will claw you in with subdued and arresting atmospherics. Lion Babe, a collaboration between childhood friends Jilian Hervey and Lucas Goodman, won’t pounce on you with immediately recognizable pop songs.