Mixtape review: Liz - Just like you

Liz has been bubbling under the surface of the music scene for a while now. Garnering an online following due to her fixation on all things Britney, Sailor-moon and also her genre bending mix of late 90s / early 00s R&B and UK garage. If Liz's discography so far is anything to go by, she has no fucks for anything released after 2002. She is singing to the tunes from yesteryear and Diplo's gang of producers and beat makers are right there on hand to make sure her throwback jams knock right.

Just like you is an love letter to the house and dance jams of the 90s - a sound which has influenced the likes of Katy Perry's Prism, Lady Gaga's Artpop and Beyoncé's iTunes crasher. But as with Annie's A&R EP, Liz's tap into this era feels much more explicit to the point where you could deem it conceptual. If you came up in the 90s then Just like you will be a nostalgic trip. Every song on this album will recapture a chart moment from that era that you can remember. The album opener "Y2K" and "Stop me cold" sound like chopped up versions of KP & Envyi's "Shorty swing my way". "Say U would" fuses UK Garage, BMore house and elements of Mariah's "Dreamlover". "All of the boys" sounds like the dime a dozen UK Garage tracks which were clogging air waves in the mid 90s. From UK garage to Cali R&B, BMore house, 2-step and Trap; Liz pulls it all off and fits each style.

Where-as the likes of JoJo has gone to great lengths to pull all of her songs into cohesive package via interludes and careful sequencing with her past two mixtapes, Liz ain't got time for that. As a result Just like you sounds like a Now that's what I call music compilation, which may have been the intention. Although whilst an overall vibe is established for the EP as a whole, the overarching sound of the album dictates this, not the track order. The album only deviates from 90s Garage-esque throwbacks for one track, the Mariah "Candy bling"-esque "Don't say". Whilst this is one of my favourite cuts on the mixtape, I wouldn't have been distraught if it were left off, as it does stick out like a sore thumb. But, this is a mixtape, so...meh.

Liz has tapped into something here which has truly resonated with me, because it takes me back to a time in the late 90s when there was great Pop, Dance and R&B. Around this time I was rediscovering music all over again and getting back in tune with it, after snubbing it for many years in favour of video games. But what this EP doesn't showcase as well as some of Liz's earlier material is her vocals. Liz doesn't have the most powerful set of vocals. I liken her to Aaliyah, in that she doesn't belt or have the most distinctive voice, but acts as a great vessel for the producers she works with because she just has a type of voice which seems to work with a range of styles and meld so well with it; from the most conventional productions to the off-the-wall and left field. But on this EP the production is what takes precedence over her. She's an accessory to the music, but she's never feels vital to it. This isn't a bad thing. But it'll be interesting to see where Liz goes from here, and if she becomes the type of artist who certain types of songs couldn't work without.

With a basic name like Liz, an album cover which resembles a Google search result and an 'any chick' voice, Liz may get lost in the crowd. But this EP of hers is a whole lot better than what many of the ladies in mainstream top 10 pop have released over the past 6 months and Liz delivers it effortlessly and void of hype or self boasted expectations.

RATING: 7.5 / 10

Album highlights:
■ Y2K
■ Say U would
■ All them boys
■ Don't say ★ J's fave
■ Turn around

Stream the EP at Soundcloud | Download the EP for FREE @ Mad Decent