Lou Hayter speed dials the 80s via searing funk-pop blast “Telephone”

With her debut solo album Private Sunshine dropping next month, former New Young Pony Club keyboardist Lou Hayter renews her slick sonic image sporting sun-sheened new single “Telephone”.

Powered by early-80s funk hooks and phasor synth-beaming swoops, “Telephone” fuses Chic-indebted nods with pure pop peppiness, underpinned by irrepressible poolside beats and crowned with a sizzling sax interlude. Hayter’s standout vocals sink into this swathe of retro R&B patter, a soundtrack to long hot summers skewing between the post-disco of Indeep and the Jellybean Benitez-produced ear candy of early Madonna.

As one half of outfit The New Sins alongside Nick Phillips for the last thirteen years, the London-based multi-hyphenate has form gelling new wave and nu-rave tropes in sleek-edged fashion, a forerunner to her latest career turn in lending a contemporary spin to electro-gleamed nostalgia. A recent reworking of Gaucho-era Steely Dan staple “Time Out of Mind” further speaks to the decade-hopping pool of influences issuing from her sound.

Hayter reflects on a breezily innocent charm underpinning the track: “I started making pop tunes in a hip hop kind of way by sampling and looping and then it opened up a whole new world of making music for me. ‘Telephone’ is one of the first ones I made like this. I love the vibe it has, it’s a nice laid-back summery tune. The sax solo was the cherry on top.”