Peggy Gou: I Hear You [XL]

Why you'll love it

I Hear You collects the singles that made Peggy Gou a festival headliner, "(It Goes Like) Nanana" and "I Go" among them, plus a duet with Lenny Kravitz. Exclaim! called it a masterful first full dose of her kaleidoscopic K-house.

This edition

• XL Recordings edition
• Original 10-track album

About the album

Peggy Gou spent years building a reputation behind the decks before she sat down to make a full album, and I Hear You plays like the best part of one of her sets, compressed into ten tight, sunny tracks. She called it more than a debut, the result of countless hours chasing something timeless, and the '90s house influence is front and centre.

"(It Goes Like) Nanana" is the hands-in-the-air anthem, "I Go" bounces on a breakbeat, and "I Believe in Love Again" pairs her with Lenny Kravitz for a breezy, soulful duet. "1+1=11" carries the album's theme of togetherness, artist Olafur Eliasson contributed a poem to the opener "Your Art" and designed the angled mirrors she wears on the cover, and "Lobster Telephone" is as playful as it sounds. Villano Antillano drops in too, adding a jolt of Latin energy to the mix.

Stereogum's Tom Breihan noted it works within '90s dance lineage while sounding like a pop album, which is a neat trick. It also explains why the shop floor gets noticeably bouncier whenever someone puts it on, and we've stopped pretending that's a coincidence.

Also at Kops: more Peggy Gou on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On XL Recordings (cat# XL1375LP), the 2024 album.