- The first taste of Peggy Gou's debut album is full-on Café del Mar worship.
- Looking back, it's easy to see when Peggy Gou started her ascent to the summit of dance music stardom. On 2018's Once, there was still a bit of underground electro grit (just check the bassline on "Han Jan"), but the other two tracks hit the perfect balance of summery house and starry pop. "It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)," in particular, pulled back the curtain on a superstar in waiting: indulgent chords, hints of acid and loose drums set the stage for Gou's vocal debut. Since then, her release schedule has been sporadic (rightfully so, given her touring schedule and that her extracurriculars include ads with Kylie Minogue), but now she returns with "(It Goes Like) Nanana," the first taste of her debut album on XL Recordings.
"(It Goes Like) Nanana" is a throwback to the early '90s at Café del Mar, when José Padilla was soundtracking sunsets for an increasingly British audience. Vintage rave chords elbow in over chunky, swung drums and a forlorn synth that has shades of Eurodance (a genre Gou played with on her last single). And even if the lyrics are a bit silly, they're catchy—I can already see throngs of bucket hat clad lads chanting "nanana" on a festival bus to the afters. There is nothing, in short, subtle about the track, but who cares—this is dance pop down to a science. Mark Barrott once described Balearic music as "heart music," a good way to explain a genre that isn't so much a sound as a vibe. And by this token, "(It Goes Like) Nanana" is as vibey and Balearic as they come.