Jessy Lanza: Oh No review – wonky pop, peak danceability

When Canada’s Jessy Lanza debuted with 2013’s Pull My Hair Back, she was pigeonholed as one of the “future R&B” artists mixing up 90s sounds with new electronics. Understandably, she and co-producer/partner Jeremy Greenspan have made a run for it on second album Oh No and a wider – and weirder – range of influences, from Yellow Magic Orchestra and J-pop to Chicago footwork and New Orleans bounce, shine through their wonky pop prism. Lanza’s smoky sensuality is still there on slow jams such as Begins, Could Be You and I Talk BB, which recalls one of Prince’s syrupiest piano moments. But much of it is, brilliantly, like something from a dusty Dance Mania tape, recognisable only by Lanza’s distinct, vapour-light voice. At times, the production can be overly fussy (see Going Somewhere), but tracks such as VV Violence (squelchy electro-funk by way of girlish electroclash) and Never Enough (a nod to smooth house dude Morgan Geist) demonstrate their ability to team that experimentalism with peak-time danceability. There could be a bona fide pop star in Jessy Lanza yet.