For Georgia Barnes, the club is a sacred space and dance a holy ritual. “I want to live like we’re dancing,” she declares on “Live Like We’re Dancing,” her 2020 collaboration with Mura Masa. Her third studio album, though, finds her moving in a more introverted direction. On “Give It Up for Love,” she sings about the importance of being willing to give space to others, and It’s Euphoric likewise finds her stepping away from crowd-filled dance floors.
Georgia, daughter of Leftfield’s Neil Barnes, adopts a broader instrumental palette throughout the album. “Give It Up for Love” prominently features acoustic guitar, while other tracks introduce organic instruments like sitar and cello. Georgia’s brand of dance music has always reflected her background as a drummer, and rhythm remains at the heart of tracks like “Mountain Song.”
The vocals on the house-influenced “Some Things You’ll Never Know” could be mistaken for Robyn’s. And yet, Georgia has a distinct melodic sensibility all her own, letting hooks develop gradually rather than relying on repetition. Where Robyn’s voice warms up the icy synths that frequently pop up in her songs, Georgia opts to let acoustic elements imbue her music with humanity on It’s Euphoric, as her voice skitters across the surface, doused in Auto-Tune on “All Night” and hyperpop glitches on “Friends Will Never Let You Go.”
Consequently, It’s Euphoric can feel slightly distant. The album’s second half leans too heavily on slow, subdued songs, and Georgia’s ostensibly personal lyrics rarely speak in anything but the most general terms. So while singles like “Give It Up for Love” and the title track make for rousing enough dance-pop, It’s Euphoric never quite rises to the promise of its title.
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