“Old goths never die..” that’s what we used to say back in the day. And it is true; the echo of their music can still be found in the most unlike parts of modern music. And while ‘Take It or Leave It’ is undoubtedly a song sitting at the cutting edge of modern alt-pop, the sounds that it is woven from feel like the friendly sonic ghosts of earlier times as much as forward-thinking freshness.
That liquid pulsing, low-end bass that was a signature of goth music, those beats, that groove are as much old-school darkwave as they are contemporary dance; the digital drive and deftness are hardly a million miles away from the sound of, say, New Order turning on to the possibilities of early electronica. And it does all that and looks very much to the future whilst honouring those pioneering sounds.
But the really clever thing here is that, for all its brooding blends and shimmering sonic rhythms, Alysha gives us a song that celebrates her faith. Clever because such music rarely steps out of its more traditional country and gospel forms; clever because if such a message isn’t for you, it is so subtly woven into the lyrics, the song so damned infectious, you don’t really care. Come for the message, stay for the dance-inducing infectiousness… or perhaps vice versa.
Either way, it’s pop music that outperforms pop music any way you care to measure it.
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