FLO - Access All Areas

FLO - comprising Jorja Douglas, Renée Downer and Stella Quaresma - carry the vocal-based pop baton passed down from the likes of Sugababes, SWV and “countless other iconic baddies,” to use the words of Wicked actor Cynthia Erivo on the record’s red-curtain opener ‘Intro’. This legacy is reanimated full-throttle by the 2023 BRIT Rising Star recipients across debut ‘Access All Areas’. It’s meta in its imitation, depicting a staged showcase of inspired, energetic, throwback R&B that infuses “bad bitch replenishment” to a post-Destiny’s Child world with campy reverence. Its soulful vignettes recapture the confident essence of the turn-of-the-millennium anti-fuckboy trope: see the summery percussion of ‘Caught Up’, which warns against unfaithful players, or the deep rhythm of the post-breakup ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’. Yet the trio push the pastiche beyond nostalgia: flourishes of contemporary R&B feature across, for example, ‘How Does It Feel’, with its dark pop refrain; the nightlife synths of ‘IWH2BMX’; Rihanna-meets-Pussycat Dolls standout ‘Nocturnal’, with its waxy, melty outro, and the punky concert showstopper ‘I’m Just A Girl’. A “feast for [the] ears” indeed, ‘Access All Areas’ is a throwback homage and then some. Music for girls, gays and theys with stupid boyfriends, this lush album wields trending nostalgia and ‘00s era sisterhood to relight the torch of a bygone R&B zeitgeist. A definitive debut.