Dragonette - Twennies

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Dragonette explores new sonic territory on her brand new album ‘Twennies’.

The first album in six years from the electro pop outfit sees singer Martina Sorbara riding solo for the first time – a change she takes full advantage of in crafting a sound somewhere between the group’s electronic beginnings and a more organic, acoustic direction.

“It’s a true hybrid of my original influences as a child and what I’ve learned along the way. It feels so representative of my musical journey,” she says of the record, which she launched earlier this year with the single New Suit.

It’s a sound that continues throughout the set, which offers a full band feeling with guitar, bass and drums underpinned by synths and electronic motifs, scoring a winning formula that elevates tracks like opener Seasick and early gem Hysteria and renders Dragonette’s latest direction a triumph.

The most effective moments on ‘Twennies’ are the rousing mid-tempo numbers, which allow the dichotomy central to the record to flourish in building a wall of sound, with the title song, T-Shirt and Winning fine examples of such.

Of the track itself, Martina says of Twennies: “This song is about the push and pull of progress versus nostalgia, which is present in the instrumentation as well: a house track with an acoustic drum solo!

“Everyone has a point that they let go of the new world, hold on to what is familiar and let progress carry on without them. I think about that a lot. I have a lot of nostalgia for earlier times, life without the crazy frantic energy of what the digital/social media age has wrought.

“But I also have a genuine excitement about current and future knowledge/progress/technical and scientific discoveries. Twennies is the internal collision of those two polarities.”

Towards the tail end of the album are some of the most personal moments: the atmospheric Stormy harkens back to Martina’s early folk career, as she reflects on the ‘forces of nature’ in poignant autobiographical narrative, while Good Intentions, with lines like ‘I’m coming in hot with my good intentions / And I never live up to my expectations’, explores her apprehension when it comes to going it alone.

Occasionally things go awry: the one-minute This Is All You Get is a curious addition to the set that does little to enhance the overall collection, while subtle closer Outie isn’t the satisfying climax we’d hoped for.

However, minor squabbles aside, ‘Twennies’ is a strong, assured comeback and – having opened up about her reservations over returning to the spotlight after six years away and becoming a mum – proof that by all accounts that Martina Sorbara is and always will be Dragonette.
-retropopmagazine

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