1-800-GIRLS - LOVE

1-800-GIRLS is the brainchild of producer and DJ Jake Stewart, whose made a name for himself over the last few years in the UK underground dance music scene. One listen to any of his singles, EPs, or his debut album, LOVE, and you can automatically pick up on the vibe that he’s trying to go for: music that blends house, techno, and emotion into a single package. You could fall in love on the dance floor and lose yourself completely in the music throughout the nearly half-hour selection of tracks on Stewart’s debut album. LOVE is a fun debut from Stewart, showing his penchant for creating dancefloor-ready tracks that evoke sweaty club dance floors and boiler room sets while striving for something bigger than that.

Throughout the span of the twelve songs on LOVE, you can find yourself falling in love on the dance floor, losing yourself completely, or staring off into space while having a brief existential crisis. There’s a feeling of euphoria that makes itself present on the opening track, “limerence”, while “eye contact” feels almost sultry in nature. Stewart makes use of interesting noises throughout LOVE; gears and pulleys click and rattle in the background of “everythingtogether”, with the telephone-like synths gently breaking through the noise to create a lush melody. “good love” feels like MySpace-era synth-pop, and “this can’t be good” makes use of a distorted synth line in between the dance break that feels primed for festival stages.

The album’s momentum drops a little in the back half, with songs like “clarence pier”, “grow”, and “an empty seat” offering a reprieve from some of the more upbeat moments heard earlier on. LOVE comes to a close with “home”, a song that breezes its way to the finish line before ending on the sound of a child’s laughter. If anything, LOVE is a solid debut from an artist that is still working his way up the ladder in dance music, and there are glimpses here of potential that reach far beyond your standard dance floor club set.