GEORGE RILEY - More Is More

More and more focused, ever closer to the finish line: from the nooks of the London underground, George Riley keeps expanding her discography with an admirable balance of speed and caution. For some she's the best-kept secret in town, for others it's frustrating to know that, in the age of the all-powerful algorithm, the chances of cracking the Top Ten are pretty much nonexistent – back in the Nineties, a sound like this would have flooded national radio; today it would take a miracle.

But George is in no hurry; presented as a mixtape, her second since “interest rates, a tape” brought her onto the scene in 2021, “More Is More” will probably disappoint anyone hoping for a long-awaited debut album, but it's still the longest and best-structured offering of her career so far.

The formula is familiar: quick, lean tracks built with good taste, straddling club music and r&b conventions, a voice brimming with charm well beyond the average dancefloor vocalist, and a keen ear for production, here more dazzling than ever. In just over half an hour, "More Is More" ranks among the most captivating dance listens of the current season.

The three preview singles had already turned heads; with Mura Masa lending a hand, "Fantasy" aches within a plush sensuality still waiting to be uncovered, a fine contrast to the explosive "More", which catches the listener off guard amid synthetic walls, propulsive drum'n'bass bursts and ecstatic flourishes reminiscent of Talvin Singh. But it's "Slow" that steals the show, riding a crackling piano-house groove and a vocal performance that takes no prisoners – a shoo-in for song of the year.

The rest of the record is no less impressive. There's "Rain", a lounge-house number as fluted as late-2000s Janet Jackson, and "Amore", a sly folktronica track with a balearic gait. The outsider keyboard lines of "Private Life" frame a club-rap inspired by Azealia Banks and Princess Nokia, while "Shotgun Wedding" pays tribute to the synthetic Kelis of "Flesh Tone", helped along by a thick, smoky vocal tone that at times sounds remarkably similar. "Something New" and "How To Love" slow the pace, as does the starry breakbeat sky of "Crush", three tracks that confidently echo the elegant ambient-pop arrangements we encountered on the mini-album "Running In Waves".

Formally, George isn't inventing anything new, but her knack for reheating recent-past trends with a contemporary touch makes her one of the most recognizable "curators" currently on the scene. Somewhere between Shygirl, PinkPantheress and Rose Gray, her sound sizzles and stacks digital blips with obsessive care, yet never loses sight of the melodic spleen of the breeziest r&b.

Granted, the previous EP "Un/limited Love" came out on Ninja Tune, while "More Is More" arrives via Confessions, another niche label with a limited reach, because evidently George is still searching for her own path, one step at a time, without compromising too much. The listen indeed closes with "Unconditional", an electro-acoustic ballad as perceptive as Kelela, perhaps the name most associable in cases like this: the two share the ability to blend dancefloor energy with the intimacy of electronic singer-songwriting.

All that's left is to wait for the next move, but in the meantime, "More Is More" is a pretty delightful treat.

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17/09/2025