Peggy Gou takes happiness seriously on I Hear You

From years of releasing top tier 90s influenced dance music, the South Korean-born electronic music artist and DJ finally blesses the world with her immaculate debut record, full to the absolute brim of warmly nostalgic, yet cooly futuristic club ready bops.

These past points are what have made Peggy Gou’s output so addictive. Take track two on I Hear You, “Back To One”; the soundscape is undeniably familiar to the well versed listener to the rave moments of 90s club hits, yet Gou’s DNA is all over the song – the vocals are joyful, and the five-minute long fever is a clear expression of an unshakable love for the genre.

Naysayers may say that there is little soul in electronic music, that because of the digitisation of traditional instrumentation, it lacks a certain human touch, a lack of engagement with the realities of humanity. This couldn’t be further from the truth on I Hear You. “I Believe In Love Again”, with legendary rocker, Lenny Kravitz, is a perfect expression of what the title reads; “Lobster Telephone”, named after the Salvador Dalí sculpture of the same name, has Gou string together and recite lists of nonsensical words, before lamenting, “I know you don’t understand this / But it doesn’t matter / It’s all the same / We’re all the same”. It is a surprisingly abstract sentiment, especially given the total bounciness of the track, but who is to say that dance music cannot be used to express the more surreal side of life? It is a familiar cliché to hear that dance music is not ‘serious’ art, but I Hear You, deftly pushes this aside, no more so on introductory track “Your Art”, with Gou reading aloud a poem written by Icelandic-Danish artist (and mastermind behind the earpieces on the album cover), Olafur Eliasson. The poem acts as a reminder that, whilst important things should be taken seriously, there is nothing that should be taken more seriously than one’s own happiness – I Hear You is here to help provide this.

This is an album to have fun with, to celebrate with, to enjoy taking part in it’s euphoric expression. Peggy Gou’s 2021 single, “I Go” makes an appearance on I Hear You, a song that bristles with the same energy as when it initially appeared; “1+1=11” closes the record, almost as a tribute to Gou herself, bearing resemblance to the “K-house” sound she coined when releasing the wonderfully inventive Once EP, back in 2018. However, what is most staggering about the album is that despite having 2023’s monster hit, “(It Goes Like) Nanana” dead in the middle of proceedings, it is not the obvious standout. Of course, it is still a brilliantly bonkers ride of a song, but it’s position within the album just shows Gou’s reverence for the DJs she watched for years during a period of self-directed musical education, nourishing an artistic point of view that on I Hear You, sounds as if has reached a point of complete focus.

Peggy Gou has always yielded her talents to the complete advantage of the listener. On I Hear You, she pays homage to these talents, laying a path that is singularly hers to embark on, one on which she carries the future of dance-music, and all of it’s fun.