R&B is about selling the cliché. An effective vocalist can create urgent and crucial emotions out of words that would sound cringe-worthy if spoken—imagine someone sitting you down and telling you, "I had a vision of love, and it was all that you've given to me," or, "You say he's not treating you right, then lady spend the night — I'll love you like you need to be loved."
"Attracting Flies" is another brilliant single from British R&B future-retroists AlunaGeorge. With each track (including my favorite single of 2012, "Your Drums, Your Love"), they hone their craft of sounding simultaneously familiar (like from the early '90s) and alien. It's true for their production and their lyrics, which are based on cliches to form something slightly more abstract. Instead of saying, "You're talking shit," in her naturally speedy voice, Aluna Francis sings, "Little gray fairy tales and little white lies / Everything you exhale is attracting flies." So Britishly polite.
Another day, another reason to fall in love with the most exciting duo in R&B, the UK's Alunageorge. Today they played the BBC 1Xtra Live Lounge, where they unveiled the new track "Body Music" and this gem: an upbeat cover of Frank Ocean's glorious "Thinkin Bout You." I had been thinking that Aluna Francis' voice had been manipulated on the group's recordings, but nope, it turns out that she actually just sounds sped up by 15 percent naturally. Unreal.
Everything about the most recent single from British R&B duo AlunaGeorge is just slightly tweaked for weirdness and the effect is a surreal, woozy euphoria. Everything, that is, except for singer Aluna Francis's voice — every word of hers naturally sounds like the final one before the helium wears off. This is simultaneously stunning and slapstick, serious and novelty, soul and pop.
