Jessy Lanza – Love Hallucination

Love Hallucination is the fourth album from Canadian singer, producer and DJ Jessy Lanza on the UK’s Hyperdub label. Lanza has described the record as her “trust fall”, having relocated to LA and found a new confidence and authenticity.

Produced by Lanza with Jacques Greene, David Kennedy, longtime collaborator Jeremy Greenspan of the Junior Boys, and Marco “Tensnake” Niemeski, the collection has a breezy, effortless feel. Opening track and first single Don’t Leave Me Now has a skittering, lightly sinister beat that is the perfect foil for Lanza’s candied vocals. The video sees her run through the palm-fringed, sunbathed streets of LA. Second single Midnight Ontario has a video made by Infinite Vibes – an animation that picks up on the visuals of the previous video: the artist riding a cherry picker around a palm tree. Limbo goes in a deferent but equally evocative direction with a man dancing in a leather gimp suit as its video. 

Lanza’s music has always drifted at the edge of pop-meets-dancefloor. Influences like Aaliyah and Janet Jackson can be heard in the vocal and lyrical content, but the music has always leaned more towards dancefloor wonkiness than mainstream radio plays. Casino Royale shows off her slinky, controlled sensuality as she entreats, “Don’t stop now”. 

Maybe the most surprising track on the album is I Hate Myself, with Japanese-sounding synths (Lanza has cited Yellow Magic Orchestra as an influence on a previous album) in which she coolly repeats the one lyric: “I hate myself”. It’s a smoothly melodic confession of self-hatred and one can’t help but admire the honesty. Like a lot of her music, the vocal has a detached delivery that only makes the excoriating lyric more intriguing. 

The album sounds like its title: a summery love hallucination. It’s a grower, rather than immediately grabbing you from the first listen, but the sweet, liquid timbre is beguiling. It’s an assured sound and will no doubt be the accompaniment to a many a summer afterparty for two. 

Jessica Wall
Photo: Landon Yost

Love Hallucination is released on 28^th July 2023. For further information or to order the album visit Jessy Lanza’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Limbo here: