Thanks to his busy schedule touring and recording with
Metronomy
and
Christine and the Queens
, it's not unusual for
NZCA Lines
'
Michael Lovett
to go several years without releasing an album. During the four years between
Infinite Summer
Pure Luxury
, however, his music underwent some dramatic changes. His first album without longtime creative partner
Charlie Alex March
,
finds
Lovett
handling the bulk of the programming and production duties. It's also his first set of songs about the real world instead of sci-fi-inspired concepts -- when everyday life is as fraught as it was in the late 2010s and early 2020s, there's no need to rely on dystopian fantasies. These differences make
much more immediate, and immediately relevant, than
's other albums. While
NZCA/Lines
were both filled with immaculately crafted electro-pop, they were so subtle and refined that they could seem overly polite on first listen.
knows the age of Brexit and climate change doesn't have time for that kind of nuance, so he sheds his previously retiring style for an impatient, kinetic blend of funk, disco, and electro. "Pure Luxury" packs more energy into its first few moments than
' two previous albums combined, along with some artful homages to
Prince
Beck
, and
George Clinton
. From its wealth of textures -- bubbling arpeggios, rotund synth-bass, syrupy strings, and crisp drum patterns -- to
's impassioned falsetto,
is much more present than anything he's done before, yet it never feels dumbed-down. As he sends up materialism and hedonism, he captures the mood that living for the moment is understandable when it seems like there might not be many moments left.
allows himself a rare moment of anger on "Larsen," which bids farewell to the Larsen C ice shelf with seething synths and guitars, but more often, he's satirically festive on songs like "Opening Night," "Real Good Time," and "For Your Love," a lush disco ballad where the line "I feel the danger in the things we do/What have I got to lose?" could refer to a fraught relationship or the fraught state of the world. As he parties like it's 2020 on
proves it's possible to decry the issues of the times and have some fun doing it. ~ Heather Phares