Peaches
I Feel Cream
XL Recordings
“Fuck maturity” declares Peaches on the opening track to her fourth and most diverse album, I Feel Cream. Well, not quite. First of all, all 12 song titles are printable. You can’t say that for her previous albums. Then there’s the heartfelt singing. Yeah, you read that right. Peaches hits the high notes in “Talk to Me,” and the ’80s dance pop-tinged “Lose You” makes Nicki French’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” seem downright insincere.
But don’t despair. Since the turn of the century, Peaches (née Merrill Nisker) has released one sexually explicit, gender-bending, and hysterically vulgar album every three years. I Feel Cream is no different. But this time, the electroclash shocker tempers bravado (“call me trash/ call me nasty/ call me crass/ but you can’t match me”) with vulnerability (“why don’t you talk to me/ I’m standing here alone/ I know you’ll never phone”).
I Feel Cream may have abandoned the guitars that peppered Peaches’ previous albums. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of hooks to sink your teeth into. A handful of producers each contribute to one track of I Feel Cream. However, the songs that are credited to Peaches and her longtime producer Gonzales are the catchiest. The last minute of “Mud” features a sludgy chord progression pounded out on a synthesizer.
After nearly a decade of making music on independent labels with virtually no radio support, I Feel Cream has given Peaches her highest chart position yet on the Billboard 200. The pulsing “Take You On” finishes the album with a slippery siren and Peaches singing “You can’t mess with me.” She’s right.
Peaches: http://www.peachesrocks.com
