Electric Tension

Unperfect “Gots to Give the Girl”

Unperfect is the new vehicle for Xenomania’s Brian Higgins, probably the single greatest pop songwriter of the 2000s that is all but unknown in the United States. Higgins is the prime mover behind the entire Girls Aloud catalog, plus key songs by Annie, Sugababes, and Kylie Minogue. He’s also the primary author of Cher’s “Believe.” You almost certainly know that one. Higgins’ aesthetic is brash, bold, and up-tempo. Every bit of a Xenomania song is catchy, it’s always a full-on barrage of hooks. Lyrics are always slightly strange, and despite being extremely glossy and POP, the songs are nearly all rooted in rock in structure, dynamics, and arrangement.

So with that in mind, “Gots to Give the Girl” is a bit of a curveball. The usual hyper-charged Xenomania energy is gone, replaced by a cool, relaxed vibe. If Girls Aloud is music designed for gyms, Unperfect seems built specifically for the “chill” playlist at a coffee shop. But despite the drastic shift in tone, it’s still very clearly a Higgins song – you can hear it in the contours of the melodies and the way he stacks them all neatly in a row, and the voices have the same tones and cadences as the women in Girls Aloud. They each take a lead, but you could be forgiven for assuming you’re just hearing one woman sing the whole time. It’s also essentially a groovy rock song, right on down to two smooth, unhurried guitar solos. It all works rather well, and though I do believe the pop scene of 2019 needs more of the old Xenomania energy, I welcome Higgins’ reinvention.

Buy it from Amazon.