Lou Hayter Private Sunshine LP

Effortlessly hopscotching between vintage acid and '80s R&B, insouciant Francophone pop and twinkling electro house, Lou Hayter has delivered something at once utterly unique and defiantly timeless with Private Sunshine, her much anticipated debut solo LP.

It has been a long time coming for London native Hayter, who first made her mark professionally as keyboardist in the hugely successful, Mercury Music Prize-nominated New Young Pony Club. However, it's through her subsequent output that she started to distil and refine her idiosyncratic tastes; certainly, you can hear hints of both the New Sins, the '80s New Wave duo she formed with Nick Phillips, and Tomorrow's World, the swooning Gallic pop act she fronts alongside Air's JB Dunckel, in this, her remarkable debut.

From the woozy, lysergic harmonies of opener "Cherry On Top", which sound like a beloved old cassette unravelling, to the fizzy, infectious "Cold Feet", which calls to mind Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam at their most heartworn, taken in toto the album perfectly nails the essence of gorgeously nostalgic synth-pop with a twist; crisp, stylish and sophisticated music which heralds the next chapter of Lou Hayter quite nicely, actually. Her retro-futuristic results will give 2021 the pop fix it so desperately needs.

Hayter plasters the record with coolly nonchalant vocals alongside lavish electronic segments, flaunted with a panache that translates into addictive shots such as 'My Baby Just Cares For Me', recalling the Hi-NRG of Stacey Q, and 'Still Dreaming', leaning towards early Bananarama and recent French disco revivalists such as Jupiter. The string of influences informing the album are at the forefront, pinpointing a specific style with discerning affection and attention. Particular tribute is paid, in this respect, to icons Steely Dan, with Hayter applying vivacious Pointer Sisters energy to a cover of Gaucho-era number 'Time Out of Mind' - fitting neatly, in its updated garb, amongst the electro-pop abundance. Elsewhere, the title-track's Grace Jones-esque synth score zones in on the hyperrealism of a decade famed for its extravagance, capturing the emerging creative buzz at the dawn of the '80s, an exuberance gifted more room to develop with additional standout 'You Again'.