Chungking – ‘The Hungry Years’ (Gut) Released 18/10/04

From the breathy openings of ‘Come With Me’ the melodic but husky voice of Jessie Banks has got me. This electronic inspired music is delicious, you could almost eat it with a spoon, but you don’t.

The dynamics of this threesome has been cause of speculation as the messy romantic split between Banks and Sean Hennessey resulted in a very tense atmosphere between the three self confessed egomaniacs. They did however, make it work and have struggled through to produce the album that they have been hankering after for years. Hence the title perhaps?

‘The Hungry Years’ is an extremely modern pop record. More stylised than the Scissor Sisters but with the same eccentric twist, more talented then Moloko but with the same feminine charm, Chungking pretty much stand alone in the contemporary UK music scene.

With the use of vocal effects and a resistance to shy away from taking chances ‘Full On’ gives listeners the opportunity to hear Banks do her best Barry White impression which she pulls off impressively well, to much testosterone perhaps?

With this sort of album there was always going to be a heap of ballady love songs and they are on here but they are more bitter sweet then lovey dovey, such as ‘Angel Eyes’ and thank god for that because should they have made this album too mushy then it would have been one for the mum’s, as it is they manage to pull it off.

‘Voodoo’ is probably the most vivid track on the album. It opens with Donna Summer/Beyonce inspired vocals that hark back to the days of the high pitched ‘Love to love you baby’. With Banks voice perfectly accompanied by an electric bass and synthesisers this track should be released independently as it has all the makings of a hit record.

Not so good is … well nothing really, Banks voice is consistently refreshing as are the tracks that have obviously painstakingly been chosen, and I suppose they have achieved the impossible, to create a genuinely loveable, sexy,  danceable(that’s slow dancing) and interesting easy listening album.

What are you waiting for?