ANOMALY //>

Gossip
A Joyful Noise
5/5

I'm guessing the days of Gossip sounding like a straight up grimy punk band are over. Their last album was disco infused rock, and i wondered whether it was a one off change of direction. Now with the release of A Joyful Noise, i think Gossip has finally found it's signature niche with another collection of danceable rock infused songs that you can either bang out on a guitar to or dance your ass off under a mirror ball.

Beth Ditto's solo dance EP that was released in 2011 has had a strong influence on the bands new album, with even more disco inspired beats sharing the stage with thrashing rock band production thanks to UK album producer, Xenomania.
You'll find specks of their previous album, Music For Men, throughout the new record. The track, Get A Job, could have easily been been part of their previous albums track listing. A Joyful Noise feels very much like a continuation of their last album, while still taking the production a little bit further.
Some of the melodies feel very old skool, they feature the types of hooks you'd hear in tracks from the late 70's/ early 80s, songs like Perfect World and Casualties of War showcase how much listening to ABBA over the last couple years has rubbed off on Beth, and the band has never gone more 70's disco than they have on stompers like Get Lost and Love In A Foreign Place.

On first listen, the album may take a few plays to sink in, but once it does, it quickly starts to come together. A Joyful Noise isn't as instant or obviously hit filled as their last album, but it's probably overall slightly more cohesive, for me anyway. Personally, there were a couple of songs on Music For Men that i never warmed up to, A Joyful Noise however doesn't have one track that i haven't grown to enjoy, so for that, i'm labeling this as their easiest album to fall in love with. Not sure if it's necessarily their best, but it could grow to become that over time.