For the first new single from their about-to-be-released fifth album How We Operate, Gomez have ditched the eclecticism that characterized their earlier output. The pleasingly named Girlshapedlovedrug is a pure summery pop song; catchy certainly, but lacking the experimental quality of the band at their best.
A sweetly familiar account of the bewildering nature of attraction, the track is a hymn to the perverse delights of "a wicked girl, worst in all the world". A soft-edged story of an innocent obsession set to a simple but satisfying guitar-centric hook.
Ben Ottewell's distinctively gruff vocals are absent in the mix, as indeed are many of the other genre-blurring elements that made their Mercury prize-winning debut such a good listen. Girlshapedlovedrug is a decent pop song, but it could have been recorded by any number of chart-minded acts. It seems too calculated an effort to produce something radio-friendly and doesn't really reflect the charms of an album, that while not a complete return to form for the band, is definitely worth a listen.
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