Summer tunez from Ladyhawke.

Photo of Ladyhawke playing oh-so-many years ago at Metro by me.

It's been too long since Ladyhawke's last album. Four years? That's just too long. Luckily Wild Things was worth the wait.

I've had the album for a while now but have been putting off listening to it. I'll admit, I was worried it might not measure up to my personal memories of Pip Brown's earlier material that made me kind of fall for her songwriting in the first place. Heck, the last time I saw her—her Chicago debut—was in 2009!

The music scene has changed since then, but on Wild Things Ladyhawke doubles down on the synth-pop dance-rock slightly gritty sound that won me over on her debut. In fact there's something almost touchingly sweet about the optimism in the melodies and beats here, trading in hope for melancholy. Even the "sad" love songs will fill the dance floor before people realize the content is more bittersweet than they realized. But who cares, the music is filled with a joy that leads everyone—well at least me—that things are always going to get better.

This year has been rough as far as any stellar new music coming out, and this has been a year where I could really have used the refuge of songs that soared and lifted me. Based on music popping up in my inbox over the past couple weeks, maybe the second half of this year will deliver me more of the music that I so dearly need right now.

Sing it Pip!