Goodnight Louisa Human Danger Vinyl LP 2022

Easter Yellow Colour Vinyl

Tracklist:

1. Human Danger
2. Surgeon
3. Diana
4. Judith
5. Alchemy In Slow Motion
6. The Deep Dark
7. Only A Matter of Time
8. Get Your Hands Off My Girlfriend
9. Margaret
10. Walter's Waltz
11. Bad Habits & Gay Bars

Goodnight Louisa is the musical alter-ego of Edinburgh’s Louise McGraw, who paints in a wide range of piano and synth tones. From gothic, ’80s 4AD to twinkly, contemporary Bat for Lashes, there’s a deft production touch behind these winding narratives.

This album generally has two gears: a beat-driven, occasionally disco vibe that shares space with those carving out their own dark corner of the club (Robyn, Torres, Mitski etc.). This is best exemplified on Only a Matter of Time, Walter’s Waltz and the title track. The former especially is akin to Jessie Ware’s recent turn into disco and the most danceable of the lot.

Complementing these hip-shaking cuts are the brooding character studies, full of spare piano and stark reverb. The trio of single-word name songs (Diana, Judith, Margaret) are of this ilk, but the best might be The Deep Dark which really shows off McGraw’s vocal range, dipping from a dusky, low register Haley Fohr to a whirring soprano like Marissa Nadler, retaining the wired theatrics of the former and the stately melodrama of the latter.

Constant throughout is McGraw’s keen eye for lyrical detail and ability to capture the minutiae of tragedy and grief. The aforementioned trio, along with Get Your Hands Off My Girlfriend deal in the micro, focusing on individual situations (with some casual mythologising on Diana), while the title track and Only a Matter of Time are more general, though still hit hard with the uncompromising lyricism colliding against the smooth, silvery sheen of the music.

Alchemy in Slow Motion (surely a better album title?) is another high point, thrilling in its restrained balladeering, pushing back on idealised versions of love. But the album’s cynicism (and occasional, warranted anger) subside during the final track, Bad Habits and Gay Bars (another title contender?), in the album’s most technicolour moment, all buzzy electronics that wink toward a hopeful future.