Junior Boys – Hazel

Canadian duo Junior Boys have been honing an engaging blend of dance music for much of the decade now. Their debut album Last Exit was lauded by critics and they achieved something of a crossover in 2006 with ‘In The Morning’, the infectious track from their follow-up So This Is Goodbye. Forthcoming third album Begone Dull Care finds Junior Boys continuing to focus in on their sound; something that they have always excelled at is creating a mood across a whole record and their new album is lushly produced, with the beats crisp and immediate, and holds a few surprises along the way. However, at times, the songs themselves can flatten into a whole, occasionally failing to fully realise their potential; stuck between ‘pop’ songs and ‘dance’ songs, some tracks can’t quite become either and fail to register.

‘Hazel’ however, is not one of those moments; rightly cherry-picked to be the first single from Begone Dull Care, it comes glazed with just the right amount of retro dancefloor chic, coupled with the romantic longing of a great pop song. Jeremy Greenspan’s vocals have, in the past, been a little understated, even whispered, but here he gives the soulful leanings that had always been apparent a freer reign.

Over fuzzed synths, pulsating beats and urgent handclaps, he treads a fine line between soulful seduction and tense separation; the icy production and the chorus of ‘It’s a hard wait’ underline the fact that this is some distant dancefloor encounter. Riding on propulsive beats and a squelching synth break down, ‘Hazel’ fizzes with nervous, joyful energy. The whole thing breaks down and disintegrates, of course, as Greenspan gets closer and closer; ‘You get caught up in another night/And you hit me with those hazel eyes’. It’s easily the most immediate and upfront track Junior Boys have produced, and acts as a shimmering window into a record that hides its intricacies under a glossy veneer.