ALBUM REVIEW
by Shardae Jobson
(released in the U.S. on June 22, 2010)
Like Kid Sister, Amanda Blank, and the few other former up and coming artists that had emerged around the same time, Uffie's too many times delayed debut won't be able to capitalize on the once heavy buzz that bubbled from her promotional singles that were considerable hits but have now fizzled. When her 2006 initial underground single "Pop the Glock" gradually took it off, making her a star on party photography and music sites, plus her association with Ed Banger Records (home to Justice and DJ Mehdi), a full-length album was said to be on the way. Uffie would go on to make appearances, performing songs from her EPs, yet months and months went by with no album in sight. "Pop the Glock" was a rather big hit for the American born, Parisian living, unlikely pseudo pop rap act, but a video for it wasn't even released until late 2009 when the title of her album was also revealed to be Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans.
Like her aforementioned peers, the wait took so long mainly due to circumstances and artistic opportunities, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans was finally released this June, and bounces off the auto-tune assisted, trip-hop, mellow house elements heard on "Pop the Glock". The album was created within a cabal of popular and adroit DJs and producers that the hipster dance scene kids adore, including DJ Feadz, Mr. Oizo, SebastiAN, and Mirwais.
To inquire more into the--at first glance--curious combination of sex and clothes in the album's title, the two topics are actually not as diffident. Since her premiere single, Uffie has mostly talked of materialism that seeks to challenge or confirm success, and mutual attraction or seduction in the name of blatant lust or love lost--which are pretty common motifs of artists her age. The new material starts with "Art of Uff" where she immediately confronts the faceless critics of her claim to fame and commends that her many travels and notable MySpace popularity is a matter of don't hate the playa, hate the game. "ADD SUV" is a delusional, fashionable tale surrounding by synthesized drowsiness that takes its cues from high to low based on the anxiety of Uffie and featured artist Pharrell Williams.
Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, even when relaxed, is a very energetic record that notifies Uffie as more than just that (former) soon to be party music chick who caught quite a lucky break back when she first met DJ Feadz. The rollicking, rambunctious jams that are impetuously equipped with her assertive and at times pugnaciously entertaining lyrics ("Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks"), the softer tunes are also some of the highlights because she actually attempts to really sing, which is a compliment for its translated vocal sincerity.
"Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans" is a light B-side of psychedelic rock, with its Marilyn Monroe references, she remembers a lover that was nothing more than what the title suggests, but was all the same mesmerizing. "Our Song" sounds like a track from Esthero with its airy, island-infused reverberations, continuing Uffie's likable train of introspective but personable words on past love ("it sometimes feels like I'm for sale"). "Illusion of Love" piggy backs off "Sex Dreams" with its spacey broodiness and the additional compelling storyteller voice of Mattie Safer from The Rapture.
Uffie's very satisfactory debut was an effort provoked by having fun and experimenting with alternate ways of expressing first love and the fast life of a girl that's made her place in the dance circles of electro acid-y pop. From song to song, you really feel that you're beginning to understand this random little star. Her arrival in music was a happy accident of which she apparently found her calling because even though Sex Dreams took forever to come out, what was readily showcased was a project taken seriously, containing some really great party music with an effervescent conscious; virtually every song is a reliable hit. Uffie was wise to not abuse too much her known pop-rap style as when she attempts to sing or simply deliver in a more natural pace, the art of uff really shines like a freshly polished glock handed off to her for another musical attack. It's one of the leading debuts in recent memory, especially of its genre. Good job, Uff.
THE BEST: "Pop the Glock", "Art of Uff", "ADD SUV", "Difficult","Our Song", "Illusion of Love","Neuneu", "Brand New Car"
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