Over the years in the UK, we’ve been known around the world for our boy/girl bands. From The Beatles to the Spice Girls and now One Direction, we’ve never been short of a collective of young men or women with catchy songs and an image that is ‘so in right now’. In the last couple of years, The Saturdays and Little Mix have been the two biggest girl groups, with Stooshe and Neon Jungle also filling up the market. So the question is, do we really need another girl group to listen to? Well when it comes to IV Rox, the answer is without a doubt YES!
Whilst the aforementioned girl groups are generally of the pop variety, IV Rox, who hail from London and Essex, offer a welcome balance between their pop contemporaries and the thriving UK urban music scene, due in part to their affiliations with legendary grime producer Davinche and also their musical influences, which range from Beyonce and Michael Jackson to the Spice Girls, TLC and All Saints meaning that their music embodies a strong crossover between the two areas.
Having shared a handful of tracks online over the last twelve months, it was up to their debut EP Imperfections to showcase what the girls were all about. At 30 minutes and seven tracks long, the EP is a slick introduction to the group, before their first full length release and provides just the right amount of unheard material to keep avid fans happy.
Opener ‘Down For Me’, featuring influential East London MC Ghetts, is the first track we hear from the IV Rox girls, demonstrating the exciting collaboration between their four alluring voices and album producer Davinche’s masterful production skills. The interjection of Ghetts’ rapid rhymes are a complimentary aside to the girls vocals, as is MOBO Award winner Stormzy’s verse on upbeat, synth-filled ‘Badder Than A Mother’. The ability of IV Rox to sound impressive over grimey beats as well as more Hip Hop or R&B influenced beats is something that sets them apart from other groups and shows the versatility that the girls have.
‘Under The Bridge’ is the first brand new track we hear and to say that it lives up to prior expectations is an understatement. The ultra modern R&B sound, which includes those all important trappy hi-hats, mixed with the girls sultry harmonies adds another string to the IV Rox bow and is further confirmed on ‘Badder Than Your Girl’, which also sees the girls utilise that current R&B vibe. With lyrics like “Looking back ain’t what I do, keep it moving, I’m cool / refuse to be a fool, so I don’t care what you pull” ‘Under The Bridge’ and likewise ‘Badder Than Your Girl’ establish a common theme which runs through the album; refusing to be hurt by a bad relationship.
But that isn’t the only topic that the album covers as title track ‘Imperfection’ shows. Throwing light on the issues around body image, a common issue apparent in today’s world and amongst their youngest fans, ‘Imperfection’ features the strong message that nobody is perfect and everyone is uniquely beautiful in their own right with the lyrics, “I’m a real girl so I need a real man, real men love all our imperfections”.
With an updated R&B meets breakbeat version of Mya’s huge hit from way back in 2000 ‘Case of The Ex’ and a dubstep influenced trap offering in the shape of ‘Grenade’, IV Rox ensure that Imperfections is a real, genre-spanning, all-round release, which will appeal to host of music tastes and ensure that they aren’t pigeon holed as ‘that new obvious girl group’. ‘Grenade’ even includes the lyric “I’m tired of hearing your shit excuses boy, shut your face and just go”, which surely means they’re the edgiest girl group out there right now!?
It is one thing to have a main member of the group who takes all the main vocal responsibilities (Beyonce!) and leaves the other members to fulfil the dancing roles in videos or just stand around ‘looking good’, but with IV Rox, Raquel, Dolly, Natalie and Nadine all have exquisite vocal abilities and it shows as they share duties equally on each track. That ethic of equality and teamwork is something that has allowed the group to build up a huge fan base of loyal followers or ‘Roxstars’, as they like to be known and they will be hugely excited by this EP.
As an urban-pop girl group from the UK in 2015, IV Rox are a shining example of the exciting possibilities of the kinds of quality music that girl/boy bands can achieve and Imperfections is their first impressive chapter. If their follow up is anywhere near as good as their debut, the girls are surely going to be one of the biggest groups in the UK in no time, making IV Rox a household name and deservedly so.
Matt Tarr
@MattTarrJourno
Matt Tarr
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