Alpines: "Gold"

The current ‘80s revival—which has now gone on longer than the actual decade—goes a little further with “Gold,” Alpines’ entry into Metallic Named Classics That Aren’t a Cover of Spandau Ballet. Focusing on the moody night music of early Lethal Weapon films, Bob Matthews and Catherine Pockson are a tour de force, possibly throwing their hat in the ring as contenders for the new Bond theme. It was already a very impressive hat to begin with: the south London duo have been backroom movers for years, collaborative favorites of Craze & Hoax (better known as producers of Emeli Sandé). Both Craze and Hoax are back on board for this one, keen to repeat their award-winning sound of stuffing Seal in a wind tunnel.

And they repeat it well. While not as arresting a singer as Sandé, Catherine Pockson dominates “Gold” with her voice, summoning images of black and white power ballads. “I’ve been down this road before / So I don’t know why I’m turning back,” she growls, her nuts as high as Jamie Woon while Bob Matthews stacks synths in the background. Like Florence and the Machine with the machines pushed forwards, Pockson blasts out heartache after heartache and rides into the drums, singing of how she wants her man to see her as valuable as precious metal. It’d be hard to resist her on range basis alone, even if said man already owns enough ingots to cast Sean Combs a new toilet.