2008 Ladyhawke Debut Still Resounds

“[It] was an eventful year, to say the least,” NME blogger Luke Morgan Britton writes. “[In 2008] Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States (which was great), but then also the recession hit (not so great). That year’s music, though, was mostly brilliant, with 12 months’ worth of debut releases from bands and artists that still hold up today. We’re not just being nostalgic, either: here are 18 great debut albums from 2008 that sound just as amazing today as they did back then.” The list includes New Zealander, Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown.

At the time of the release of her debut album, NME wrote: “The album oozes sass and smoulder … it’s never less than helium-heady from the hooks.”

Today, Britton writes: “Ladyhawke hasn’t managed to capitalise on the early promise of her debut but, to be fair, it was a pretty hard record to follow. Blending sleek disco and funk influences with Ed Banger-esque electro and a punk-ish edge, we can confirm that ‘Ladyhawke’ definitely still slaps.”

The “must-hear track”? “Paris is Burning”.

Brown’s second solo album, Anxiety, was released in 2012, and her third solo album, Wild Things, in 2016.

She was born in Masterton in 1979.

Also included on the list was the Foals’ album Antidote, Lady Gaga’s, The Fame and Bon Iver’s, For Emma, Forever Ago.

Original article by Luke Morgan Britton, NME, August 21, 2018.