Luna Aura
Supernova
http://lunaauramusic.com
The “Pop” in Pop
Music stands for Popular. This
designation supposedly describes a fact about the music; namely, that it’s
popular. However, to my mind Pop Music
also describes a genre - an inclusive genre that covers significant chunks of
the R&B scene, as well as pieces of electronic music, alternative stuff and
whatever else label executives think will stick to the charts and make them
rich and influential. The poppiest of
Pop Music wriggles its way into the collective subconscious becoming earworms
that drive the sanest among us mildly loopy.
Luna Aura’s recent
EP Supernova comes across
emphatically as electronic Pop, but fails to develop a single earworm that
would make any of the four tracks overly memorable. Far from being a criticism, this observation
means that Supernova is as enjoyable a
collection of Pop tunes as I’ve encountered in quite a while - enjoyable, but
not very memorable.
I’m not sure there’s
a single “real” instrument during the less than twenty minutes it takes to
listen to the five songs. This reliance
on electronica helps, rather than hinders the experience, as there’s no real competition
for your attention, and you can enjoy Luna’s earnest singing. Aura tries hard to bring sultry to the
experience, and at times seems to succeed, but at other times simply comes
across as earnest. If the lyrics focused
less on relationships and more on serious topics, she could carry off some real
meaning.
Opening the EP, “Like
You” could be an 80s paean to love and monogamy if the tempo picked up just a
bit. If released thirty years ago, I
could easily see this one being the slow dance at hundreds of proms across the
country. “Gravity” establishes the tempo
“Like You” could have benefitted from, and proceeds to add a metric ton of
layers of vocals and digital effects.
This tune should be the first tune for strippers everywhere, what with
the beat changes, strong female vocals and passionate lyrics. “Dancing With Your Ghost” struts its way into
your ears next. This one smells strongly
of mid-80s female-lead R&B acts. By the
mid-late 80s R&B music had largely abandoned the B (Blues) and focused
heavily on the R (Rhythm). If an album
skewed too strongly to torch songs and slow tunes, you could be sure it always
had at least one radio-friendly up-tempo tune, and this one could easily
replace any of dozens. “Supernova,”
another up-tempo Pop track, features a bit more female rap verses and digital
wizardry than “Dancing With Your Ghost” or your average 80s female act that
made it to the radio would have done. “Trigger”
closes out the collection, returning to the more sultry and earnest style
featured in “Gravity” and “Dancing With Your Ghost.”
As a “Pop” record,
Luna Aura’s Supernova isn’t a horrible
collection of digital junk whose sole purpose is to dig it way into our brains
and leave tracks that’ll make us nuts in the weeks and months to come. No, it’s an enjoyable set of love songs that
would be great for background music in a movie’s love scene or on your next
date. The music’s fun and enjoyable
without being distracting or depressing.
Should Luna Aura ever decide to go more political with her lyrics, they
could easily open for U2 and have a decent career as college-radio
staples. If she worked on developing
more earworm-y tunes, she could be a one-hit wonder, or better. For now, she’s pretty good (seriously, try
this record the next time you go out and park with your date at a scenic
overlook… you’ll be doing yourself a big big favor.)
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