Review: Cindy Wilson 'Change' LP

Cindy Wilson, a founding member of the Athens Georgia party-band The B-52s, which just celebrated their 40th anniversary, recently reached a personal milestone herself, releasing her 1st full length solo album today, Dec.1st 2017.



Wilson first released the solo E.P., Sunrise, in September 2016, followed by a second E.P., Supernatural, on her 60th birthday, February 28th, 2017. If that seems like a lot in the span of 18 months,  Wilson also spent much of the year on the road on a dual American Tour with B-52s and with her solo act to promote Supernatural. Locally she played Zanzabar on June 30th with her solo outfit and again with the B-52s  (with the Louisville Pops orchestra at Whitney Symphony Hall) on October 21st before returning to Zanzabar for a second solo show on November 19th during a tour promoting her new L.P. Change.

Cindy Wilson at Zanzabar 6/30/2017

Of the 10 tracks on the full length, 2 were previously released on the first E.p; Brother and and the title track Sunrise. The first, Brother, is a throw back to the 80s post-industrial era as if Kim Deal had joined The Jesus and Mary Chain. The other, Sunrise, is rooted in the 90s dance club world, much like Deee-Lite in an art-imitates-life-which-imitates-itself, as Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier could be seen as a protégé of Wilson.

Change follows Sunrise's recipe of a total split between industrial dance noise and early nineties post-pop dance tracks.  No tracks from the second E.P., Supernatural, made it onto Change, which is notably different than the others; mixing these two genres into a post-noise dance bopper, making Supernatural the most interesting of the three releases. Which is not to say the others are not worth a listen. Change envelopes and slows down the musical themes of Sunrise creating chill-wave tempoed dance club tracks heading into Nu-Disco tropes reminiscent of Drugdealer or Poolside, as evident on the track Things I'd Like To Say. While Supernatural sails back and forth from calm seas to tsunamis, Change keeps the pace through a turbo chilled Post-Adult Contemporary afterparty.

Listen to our Rock N Roll Hotline interview with Cindy Wilson here.