Warp grip the debut single of technoid, avant-R&B-pop from Paris-raised, NYC-based Lafawndah, sporting production by Aaron David Ross (ADR), L-Vis 1990, Nick Weiss (Teengirl Fantasy) and prodigious German Tamer Fahri. Town Crier introduces Lafawndah as some dramatic collision of Björk, FKA Twigs and Planningtorock with a smart contrast of strangely clipped pop diction and a tumultuous, almost militant beat, whereas Ally spirals from intimate beginnings into a vortex of hard-ass tribal club groove and icarus like vocal runs. The EP’s title track is a more beguiling beast, borrowing its title from a Duke Ellington dedication to “to the Suntanned Tenth of the Nation” and sounding like Kelela dealing with an identity crisis - with schizoid, dramatic production to match - followed by the world-curious drums and salty synths of Crumb to frame her extraordinary vocal range at its extremes.
