Fresh from winning ‘Best Dance Release’ at this year’s ARIA awards for ‘Chameleon’, the powerhouse of Australian electronic music PNAU have gracefully returned to our hearts with their latest album ‘Changa’, a 12-song offering with the sole objective of getting you moving through this festival season.
‘Changa’ begins with the charismatic ‘Save Disco’, which true to the title of the track is jam packed with copious amounts of swagger that signifies the disco era. The core of the track is built upon funk influenced bass lines, coupled with a punchy percussion and simple yet highly effective guitar melody that when combined with the reverbed vocals act as an imposing force in the continual march towards the resurgence of the disco/funk period that we are more than happy to welcome back into our hearts.
PNAU provide the perfect addition to your Sunday session playlist in the title track ‘Changa’. The track slaps you in the face immediately with the high range choral vocals that build to an empowering early taste of the chorus filled with an infectious vocal hook that is instantly instilled into your memory, followed by a powerful blend of a brooding bassline and the sharpness of the chords within the piano. The summer vibes creep through the mix courtesy of a brilliant saxophone solo that cuts through the mix and truly captivates a beach party scenery created.
Another flashback to the funk age occurs in the change of pace track ‘In My Head’. Whilst temporarily dropping the intensity slightly in the album, PNAU maintain a head bopping momentum with a thick layer of resounding bass that bleeds through the mix to carry the disco vibe for the track. The vocal melody in the chorus of ‘In My Head’ is one to be admired, as the vocalist has created a short & concise melody with carefully constructed phrasing and minimal notation changes that results in a contagiously addictive chorus that truly encompasses the standout nature of choruses.
A quite haunting mood setting comes to the forefront in ‘Please Forgive Me’, a thriller of a song that places you within a gripping tale of fear & love. PNAU perfectly capture this setting through a screeching nature in ‘Please forgive me all I’ve done before’ that beautifully captures the desperation in the story depicted, as well as the counter melody that occurs from 2:28 which cleverly adds to the already present tension within the soundscape.
‘Changa’ offers many huge hits such as ‘Chameleon’, ‘Go Bang’ and ‘Changes’ which we are all well and truly familiar with, but once you dive in that little bit deeper you are rewarded with one of the albums of the year.
‘Changa’ is available everywhere now via etcetc music.
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author: Chris Salce