BABA ALI
Memory Device MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES
7/10
London-based American’s lockdown-penned debut
Produced by Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem polymath Al Doyle, this debut album from New- Yorker-in-east-London Babatunde Doherty often sounds like the work of those acts’ adopted nephew. Icy synth textures and gnarly nuggets of techno punctuate Doherty’s sometimes staccato, sometimes soulful vocals on the likes of “Thought Leader”, all hung on sharp pop hooks. You might feel you have heard the “round and round” chorus of “Black Wagon” in several songs before but it’s no less hypnotic for it, while the New Order-ish pulse and guitar twang of “Nature’s Curse” and the neurotic LCD-style techno-rock of “Temp Worker” suit his understated delivery just as well.