Listen: Just Chemistry — Dance Lessons

Following on from SMABTO and New Job, Just Chemistry is the latest single from London-based and female-fronted trio Dance Lessons.

Just Chemistry floats upon a loose percussive bed, with vocalist Ann’s statuesque vocal performance elevating the sound to some sort of earthy-disco. The song feels unfussy in parts, yet boasts a sophisticated yet relatively unfussy sound — there are layers, but each sound still commands its own space.

Among all of this sophisticated and understated pop is a saxophone. I love a bit of saxophone, but it can be overpowering. Not so here, where it embellishes and enhances what is here, without overwhelming it. In fact, it lends the track a level of expensive sophistication that contrasts to the easy accessibility on show elsewhere.

Describing the song, Ann says:

“Just Chemistry is about the over-complication of our relationships. It’s about the things that are left unsaid in-between the awkward text messages and conversations, and how the absence of knowing can be misinterpreted as doubt. Last year was a difficult one. For a long time, I felt at the mercy of my emotions. I doubted where things were going. I lived in the future and found it hard to commit to the present. But these moments of not knowing can be equally thrilling and beautiful. And that’s what the song is about: finding beauty in the unspoken. In most cases, it’s chemistry that makes us fall in love. Things end, all is temporary. Let’s not go to war with one another over it.”

Just Chemistry exhibits the humanity and complexity I believe the song is shooting for, and yet it also points to a natural and universal simplicity that exists in all our relationships, and in music itself. Check it out below:

https://instagram.com/wearedancelessons dancetodancelessons@gmail.com Written by Dance Lessons Produced by Ann Mixed by Andrew Maurey

Watch: New Job - Dance Lessons

New Job has a glossy, easy-going disco sound that feels perfect for June. It is a song for the moment as the sun just starts to drop below the horizon on hot summer days.

What really stuck out for me is the way Dance Lessons have layered multiple vocal harmonies together whilst creating something that feels popular yet interesting, polished yet real. The artist is most calls to mind for me was Róisín Murphy, who similar brings beautiful vocals and a finesse to music that is ultimately experimental.

Dance Lessons are a London-based, female-fronted and female-produced trio. New Job is their second single and Dance Lessons’ Ann said it became weirdly prophetic:

“It was never meant to become personal. I initially wrote it late last year – before a break-up. Afterwards, I went on a mad search for new ways to distract myself. The song shows the similarities in perspective of two people post-breakup, both using distractions to mask the sadness.”

The video for New Job was shot by Sarah Chatfield in a COVID-19 locked down LA. Having previously worked with Lily Allen, Lykke Li and The Cribs, Chatfield was challenged to work unconventionally, without a crew and with minimal equipment. It's also shot entirely on iPhone, which is impressive given how great it looks!

The result perfectly captures the dance interpretation of New Job, performed and choreographed by Gabri ‘GQ’ Gilliam and Shantel Ureña. In a sense, the sight of a couple dancing through empty streets feels analogous to the experience of trying to move on from a break-up - the sense of isolation, of being busy for the sake of it, and the weird reality that the only person who genuinely knows what you are feeling is the precise person you are working to move on from. Together, even in moving apart.