About eight years ago, LA’s Ramona Gonzalez was at the forefront of a wave of faintly avant-garde female bedroom artists reimagining synth pop (her friend Julia Holter had another trajectory). The early 80s have been revived more times than is strictly necessary – artists such as Grimes, meanwhile, have run far with the same idea – but Nite Jewel’s third album bears examination – a west coast companion piece, perhaps, to Shura’s recent album. Liquid Cool might lack the muscular tunes needed for a crossover, but period-perfect tracks such as Kiss the Screen or Over the Weekend nag persuasively. Moreover, the world conjured up by Gonzalez’s sound design is convincingly gauzy and neon-lit, with just enough denatured funk and R&B to locate it in 2016.
