Little Boots - Hands

2009 has been a massive year for Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, starting with the BBC’s Sound Of 2009 Award in January, which launched her as the most important new artist of the year. Following this success, Little Boots has now embarked on a string of tour dates around Europe, including several slots at iconic festivals such as Glastonbury and Summer Sonic in Tokyo. All this, and the release of her debut album ‘Hands’ shows that Little Boots has definitely hit the ground running. The album itself is a strong debut, blending electronic rhythms and melodies with Kylie Minogue style vocals and pop hooks, which act as light relief against more established contemporaries such as Lady Ga Ga. In comparison, Little Boots, a self confessed synthesizer geek, creates a more dreamy and youthful perspective on the common themes of heartbreak and finding oneself. This can be seen from punchy opening single ‘New In Town’ right through to the sultry ‘Hearts Collide’, a melancholy take on finding love. Other key moments include ‘Meddle’ and electronic anthem ‘Stuck On Repeat’ which sounds like a cross between early Franz Ferdinand and Eurythmics. The album peaks at future single ‘Remedy’, a pop tinged dance track which celebrates the euphoria of dancing and letting go, “No more poison killing my emotion, I will not be frozen, dancing is my remedy”. Despite being simplistic and generic in places, ‘Hands’ offers a pleasant slice of traditional pop and proves that sometimes its better to run before you can walk!