London Grammar - 'Baby It's You' Review

Label: Ministry Of Sound

Release date: 20th August 2020

Rating: 7/10

"‘Baby It’s You’ lyrically focalises as a love song, but when taken in London Grammar’s nouveau electro guise, it is a love song to summer."

London Grammar PR shot.

London Grammar is the archetype of trippy pop. They are a musical marriage of lead vocalist Hannah Reid, a classically-trained soprano and fellow bandmates Dot Major and Dan Rothman, who accompany with a cocktail of electro-fused guitar, drums and keyboard. ‘Baby It’s You’ is their latest solo release, since 2017 and is their most chromatic to date. The track is embellished by a backbone of international sound, drawing heavily on Latin-American percussion. It makes for happy, and trance-inducing listening.

The track opens with drums, as a testament to the song’s joy. The added flare of percussion makes it an easy winner for a chilled summer vibe or a beach dance. ‘Baby It’s You’ lyrically focalises as a love song, but when taken in London Grammar’s nouveau electro guise, it is a love song to summer. Reid’s voice warbles in some places, revealing her classical voice at odds with the song’s lyrical redundancy. "You/ Baby it’s you" boomerangs through the entire song as the chorus: and the two verses depict shallow sentiment with lyrics such as: "And the crowd is heavy, I don’t wanna move/ All these colours in me, but all I see is you."

The lyrics don’t match up to London Grammar’s previous balance of lyrical poeticism and deep musical textures. ‘Baby It’s You’ eschews the emotional stronghold of prior singles, such as ‘Strong’, ‘If I Wait’ and ‘The Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’; the very reason London Grammar captured my ears and heart in my early teens. However, the fundamentally basic repetitive synthesis and catchy lyrics set it up for endless remix potential; which has garnered London Grammar a wider fanbase in the past.

If it had been any other year, this track would have heralded summer from DIY barbecue garden decks to the international festival circuit to parties on the isles of Ibiza and Mykonos. Maybe it’s a good thing then, that the band has gone for an upbeat feel. We’re all in the ‘feels’ deep enough as it is.

Words by Elyse Emanuel.

22nd August 2020.