Album Review: U.S. Girls Heavy Light

Meghan Remy has blazed a ferocious trail with her uncompromising feminist pop. She is straight-talking and clear-thinking – but always with a chorus you could hang from a glitter ball.

That remains the case on her astonishing eighth album, a propulsive assault of thinking-person’s floor fillers, recorded at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango studio, of Godspeed You fame and notoriety, with a 20-piece band (including Bruce Springsteen sax tooter Jake Clemons).

There is machine-processed sound and fury (‘Overtime’), swooping angst (‘Denise, Don’t Wait’) and funk juggernauts that speak truth to power ‘(4 American Dollars’).

Sprinkled in between are recordings in which people recall intimate moments from their lives. ‘The Most Hurtful Thing’, for instance, consists of interviewees recollecting words that hurt their feelings. (If I was to make a late contribution, Meghan, it would be: “Shamrock Rovers 6 – Cork City 0”).

And at the centre of it all is Remy, with her fantastic Madonna-fronts-Sonic Youth voice and tunes that ring out – and carry one hell of a big stick.

Check out the video to 4 American Dollars by U.S. Girls from their new album Heavy Light!