‘Real Power’ is Gossip’s first release since reuniting in 2019. A focused and polished collection, these 11 tracks find the band continuing a career-long trajectory of shaving down their roughest edges. A “celebration of creative expression”, according to force-of-nature frontwoman Beth Ditto, Gossip’s sixth studio effort sees the trio bend into various new shapes that sharply reframe a host of the band’s familiar tropes.
Recorded with Rick Rubin at his home studio in Hawaii, ‘Real Power”s production reflects Rubin’s trademark precise and minimal aesthetic vision. Not a note feels out of place, in stark contrast to much of Gossip’s early work, which, though similarly pared-down, was notable for its rawness. Punctured by a simple three-note guitar melody, ‘Crazy Again’ is gleaming and intensely linear, while ‘Turn The Card Slowly’ follows a similar straight-line logic, bottling its explosiveness until one controlled moment near its end.
Tracklist:
Act Of God
Real Power
Don’t Be Afraid
Crazy Again
Edge Of The Sun
Give It Up For Love
Turn The Card Slowly
Tell Me Something
Light It Up
Tough
Peace and Quiet