Georgia's 'Seeking Thrills' Is the Embodiment of What It Means to Come Alive on the Dancefloor

Photo: Courtesy of Domino Music

Musically on Seeking Thrills, Georgia distills her various influences, pulling in synthpop, disco, Chicago House, and 1980s Detroit techno with sprinklings of UK garage, dancehall, and even post-punk.

Seeking Thrills


10 January 2020

Inclusivity, love, unity, and, most importantly, having a bloody good time. They're the things that lure us back to the dancefloor time and time again. At its all-embracing, life-defining peak, the clubbing experience should be a euphoric, coming together of like-minded souls under dazzling strobe lights. On her second album, British artist Georgia has managed to bottle that feeling as she joyously celebrates the dancefloor and all who inhabit it.

Musically on Seeking Thrills, Georgia distills her various influences, pulling in synthpop, disco, Chicago House, and 1980s Detroit techno with sprinklings of UK garage, dancehall, and even post-punk. It's a heady, energetic fusion of sounds with Georgia taking things back to basics as she constructs sounds from analogue synths and simple drum machine beats. The whole thing is designed to take you back to the comforting, sticky floors of the dancefloor, where the only thing that matters is you and the music.

The opening four tracks immediately thrust the listener into the pulsing heart of the club. "Started Out" is an assured mix of laser-like synths and taut beats bound together by a snaking, hip-shaking bassline. Lyrically, she moves from a gleaming pop chorus to a glorious rebel-rousing finale on a song that sounds like it's existed since the 1980s. Next, on "About Work the Dancefloor" (PopMatters' #1 Dance Track of 2019), Georgia makes good on her aim of distilling those euphoric dancefloor moments for wider consumption. With it's driving, arpeggiated synth bassline and washed out, kaleidoscopic analogue synths, it builds to the kind of blissed-out chorus that would have a fair to average chance of bringing about world peace. If only we could get certain world leaders on the dancefloor at the same time.

The good times continue on the raucous, unifying anthem, "Never Let You Go". With its rumbling bassline and layers of synths, Georgia spits out infectious hooks that seem to be actively competing to see which can be the catchiest. The initial club-ready set concludes with the intoxicating rush of the appropriately named "24 Hours". Capturing the all-consuming high of the club, it quickly becomes a bonafide, glittering party anthem that should, by rights, come complete with its own mirrorball.

From there, the album lures you to the seedier side of the club with the narcotic groove of "Mellow". Featuring murky electronics, spoken word vocals, and a jaw-droppingly steamy verse from Shygirl, it could easily tempt you over to the dark side. It's an album track that gets better and better on repeated listens. The thrilling thing (ahem) about the album is its variety and strength in depth. Songs like "Til I Own It" and "I Can't Wait" may lack the immediacy of the previously released singles but contain the kind of choruses that gradually wriggle their way into the subconscious.

"Feel It" harnesses the riotous energy of peak M.I.A and channels it into a sophisticated alt-pop anthem complete with a drop that could probably set off car alarms in a different postcode. "Ultimate Sailor" affords the listener a short breather as Georgia takes Eno-Esque electronics and squeezes them into a wondrous hook that works as a simple yet hugely effective bed for her soft, comforting vocals. Musically, "Ray Guns" continues with the M.I.A. influence but also pairs it with a rousing and apposite message. In this case, the idea of armies of women rising and fighting for what's theirs.

With its bright synths and reverb drum loops, "The Thrill" would sound perfect playing over the credits of a John Hughes movie while album closer "Honey Dripping Sky" is Georgia at her most vulnerable. It's an emotional electro-ballad with swells of orchestral synths that tease the heartstrings until it suddenly shifts into a head-spinning dub breakdown. An unexpected ending to an unpredictable album.

Full of energizing rhythms, buoyant beats, and memorable vocal melodies, Seeking Thrills is more than just a set of late-night bangers. These are songs that work just as well coming home from the school run or pulling some awkward shapes in your Mum's kitchen. It's a spectacularly physical and restless album and one that never occupies the same space for too long. It's the embodiment of what it means to come alive on the dancefloor. This is your album. Enjoy it.




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