‘In A Poem Unlimited’ might be Toronto-based musician and artist Meg Remy’s sixth studio album under the US Girls name, but it’s entirely likely you’ve never heard of her. Decidedly under the radar, she’s spent the past decade or so crafting music from the fringes. Until now. On this very modern protest album, she’s managed to distil the bubbling female rage that’s finally become headline news and created a woozy, hypnotic album that’s rooted in electronica and dreamy, jazzy interludes, but also manages to encompass disco, funk, soul, dub, trip-hop, art-pop, noise-rock, industrial and quite a lot of ABBA.
Despite its soft delivery and irrepressible Minnie Riperton groove, opener ‘Velvet 4 Sale’ cuts to the quick, its powerful first line (“You’ve been sleeping with one eye open because he always could come back, you know / And you’ve been walking these streets unguarded waiting for any man to explode”) likely to ring true with more women than it should in 2018. ‘MAH’ – an anti-war anthem that skips between Bowie and Blondie with infectious glee – takes Meg’s politics onto the sparkly dancefloor of Studio 54. Meanwhile, the propulsive ‘Pearly Gates’ conflates religion and abuse of male power over skittering old-school beats and a tune that weirdly, brilliantly resembles Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin And Juice’.
Powerful, potent and bloody good for dancing to, ‘In A Poem Unlimited’ might just be the soundtrack to the revolution.
