Georgia: Euphoric review – seizing the day

It would be natural to assume that Georgia’s third album tilts at dancefloor bliss. Georgia Barnes is made of beats: after a stint session drumming, the London singer-producer made her name with club-facing tracks. Her last LP, Seeking Thrills (2020), went big on the rush of hedonism. Then there’s the small matter of her dad being in Leftfield.

Here, though, Georgia is describing a more personal state, beyond sweating it out under lasers. Made in LA alongside co-producer Rostam Batmanglij – once of Vampire Weekend, now producer to Clairo and Haim – Euphoric seeks to capture a sense of freedom, born of letting go of baggage and widening horizons. The death of a close friend is also in the mix.

But Georgia’s mood is upbeat, liberatory, day-seizing. Songs such as Give It Up for Love and All Night are typical, convincingly throwing caution to the wind in the face of romance and adventure. Throughout, her airy vocals are front and centre – almost pop, even as she retains a core allegiance to digital beats, 90s sounds and house pianos. The catch is that some passages here feel featherlight and unmemorable; a record about such transformational jubilation deserves to sound more characterful. A surprise sitar solo on Keep On isn’t quite enough.