Inc. - 3

If you’re someone who generally likes to be in the loop, then I expect the term “boudoir’n’b” will mean something to you. For those of you who don’t really care what’s going on and instead favour the more passive form of being “on it”, let me explain: “boudoir’n’b” is fucking music. But I guess you can’t really plug it like that.

Brothers Andrew and Daniel Aged have not simply been pulled out of a hat (pulled out of the winning gene-pool); the two siblings have in fact been coming up on the inside for some time now, acting as session musicians for such big names as Elton John, Beck and Pharrel. Their debut EP for 4AD, ‘3’, is an oeuvre wholly their own: written, produced, mixed and engineered by themselves, we know we are not dealing with just a boyband.

Because they do look like a boyband, it’s just that their sound doesn’t quite fit the mould. On listening to ‘3’, you would have to be deaf not to draw immediate, nay, ode-worthy comparisons with the king of fucking music, Prince. First track, ‘Swear’, holds that same holy sensuality: the delivery of the vocals, the lyrics themselves – it’s all a little familiar. The grand hook, “Do you… swear?”, breathless and desperate, holds a candle to tracks of the ‘I Would Die 4 U’ ilk. To say it sounds like a tribute does not render it contingent though; it is a fantastic slice of pop, synths and all. Stronger than second track, ‘Heart Crimes’, which feels a little like filler… like a weak glue holding ‘Swear’ to the final song, ‘Millionairess’. It is this closing number which really takes the biscuit – again, echoing Prince-like themes, the title word panting, sweat oozes from the body. Hip pop-y, but ultimately, boudoir’n’b.

‘3’ is a great introduction to Inc. It is clear where they are coming from, and seems even clearer where they are going. Let’s just hope this direction doesn’t lead them too straight down the Paisley road.