★★★★☆
Cool is such a difficult thing to achieve. You can’t try too hard to get to it, but being blasé about it usually digs its own hole. Soul Clap reach the C word by carefully guiding space-bound electro away from sleazy environs, while maintaining a sexual appetite.
“The Alezby Inn” is coded for something salacious, the one fantasy tome where Eli Goldstein and Charles Levine ooze with the oily charm of a celestial pimp spitting booty bass poetry. But, as ever, their understanding is that powering down means the sensual can come to the fore. “Islands in Space” heads to make-out point, and “Ecstasy,” featuring Mel Blatt from past UK girl group All Saints, slopes off to the parents’ bedroom away from the house party. Meanwhile, the prowess of “Clapping Song” isn’t too cool to laugh at itself, given that it comes equipped with a kazoo symphony.
Boldly playing up to electro-soul nostalgia, R&B popstrels “Take It Slow” and “Let It Go” confidently remind that keyboard is king, and the same self-belief runs through the risks the album takes. “Need Your Lovin” is yet another re-up of Baby D/The Korgis – now seasoned with Salt n Pepa – and “Let’s Groove On,” with nods to Doug Lazy and Chad Jackson, toys with irony and knowledge. Soul Clap: cool, but without rubbing everyone’s nose in it.
File under: Chromeo, Egyptian Lover, Jack Splash