Following Nile Rodgers’ guitar work on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories in 2013, elements of disco have crept back into the dance scene. Funky rhythms and jazzy minor 7 chords have been dragged from the depths of the discotheques they died in. Escort’s Animal Nature is a project that seeks to prove that elements of disco can be fused with modern drum beats and smooth up-to-date lyrics to form tracks that wouldn’t be out of place at a modern club. Escort themselves have said that they want their vibe to be relevant to today’s music scene while still sounding like that one gem of an album that you found the other day in an old crate of vinyl. Top tacks for me were Body Talk, Animal Nature, and Cabaret. I would also include If You Say So on the list simply for its driving guitar part reminiscent of Nile Rodgers on RAM.
Reviewed by Sam Brand, one of KSTO’s Alt/Top 200 genre directors.