MP3: “Never Never Love”
Video: “Never Never Love”
Also check out this unique two-part YouTube live video of the song “Semi-Babe”, open each of these in separate windows, line them up side by side and sync them up to play simultaneously:
Welcome back. You’ve been out in the wilderness – wandering, lost, confused. Now it’s time to return to a new form. Pop Levi – genuine maverick – has returned with a new album, the avant-pop masterpiece Never Never Love.
“A true cult hero” (NME), probably the only contemporary musician in the world beloved of both Jarvis Cocker and Noel Gallagher, ex-Ladytron bassist Pop was never likely to come back with the same record all over again and Never Never Love doesn’t disappoint.
Recorded entirely in Hollywood at Quincy Jones’ old studio, Westlake, where both Thriller & Off The Wall were laid down, Mr. Levi has returned with an album about the madness of love – 100% autobiographical, 100% clever, 100% dumb, 100% unique. And that’s giving 400% already.
From transitional rockers like “Wannamama” and “Oh God,” Pop spreads his wings, relying on a production flare that makes the record feel fresh and slick as well as charmingly hi-lo-fi. Title track “Never Never Love” shows that while he hasn’t abandoned the dynamics of the rock group he has also been steeping himself in contemporary R&B. Central track “Dita Dimone” re-tells of his break-up with the song’s eponymous heroine with all the low-slung swing sass of a future-classic. From hereon in the album takes off in all kinds of weird and wonderful directions – from the crazed danger pop of “Mai’s Space” to the heartfelt longing of “Semi-Babe”, the wonky dub of “Call The Operator” to the final comedown of “Fountain of Lies”.
Flamboyant, utterly self-confident, completely his own man and so uninterested in the back and forth of fashion that everything he makes is an instant classic, Pop Levi is in the building. Bow down and give thanks.
***
“There are few genuine mavericks in music today, but Pop Levi appears to be one of them.” – Q
“Glammy, witty, pouty, he camps and vamps around the shiny surfaces of formidably sexy dance-pop — Poppa’s got an altogether warmer, funnier bag.” – NME
“Trippy, sexy, wickedly produced, deeply psychedelic glam rock” – MIX MAG
“This magpie flits across the whole musical map. Imagine Bolan produced by Prince, then scrambled by Beck, and you’re only halfway there. Killer single “Blue Honey” and the equally buzzing “Dollar Bill Rock” suggest a fervid obsession with ’70s glam. But they’re offset by the boho psychedelia of “See My Lord” and the blissed-out “(A Style Called) Crying Chic” – UNCUT
“What’s immediately clear is that Levi isn’t an electro enthusiast who’s decided to make rock music; he makes rock music as if were electronic, putting a premium on rhythm, repetition, and economy.” – 8.0 – Pitchfork
Never Never Love (Counter)
Street Date: Sept. 2, 2008
01 Wannamama
02 Never Never Love
03 Dita Dimoné
04 Semi-Babe
05 Fire On Your Feet
06 Mai’s Space
07 You Don’t Gotta Run
08 Oh God
09 Everything & Finally
10 Love You Straight
11 Call The Operator
12 Calling Me Down
13 Fountain Of Lies
POP LEVI LINKS:
Myspace: www.myspace.com/poplevi
YouTube: www.youtube.com/poplevi
Press Materials: www.ninjatune.net/press/counterrecords.php