Peaches
I Feel Cream
XL Recordings
If, like me, you haven't tuned in to what electroclash pioneer Peaches has been up to since 2000's brash and bracing The Teaches of Peaches, her self-produced fourth album will take you by pleasant surprise. Collaborating with wizards like Soulwax and Simian Mobile Disco, the performer -- who, at one time, seemed content to simply shock -- has produced a surprisingly subtle and sophisticated collection that has 80 percent more electro and 40 percent less clash. The new album, which hits stores on Cinco de Mayo (May 5 for gringos), opens with "Serpentine," a dense, danceable track that explicitly distances the erstwhile Merrill Nisker from the electroclash epithet. While songs like "Billionaire" -- filled with jokes and genitalia -- are vintage Peaches, tunes like "Relax" showcase a kinder, gentler songwriter, capable of singing that goes far beyond the raspy sex-and-spandex rap she pioneered.
