Gossip – the trio made up of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Nathan Howdeshell and drummer Hannah Blilie – were never just a one-hit wonder. Originally released in 2006, Standing in the Way of Control, the US band’s breakout hit, always had plenty of good company: workouts honed to maximum bounce throughout Gossip’s years playing in queer punk circles. Their knack for filleting disco, soul and 1960s girl-group pop for rhythm and emotion meant that their sweaty oeuvre found a much broader audience than DIY all-ages gigs. Standing in the Way of Control ended up on the soundtrack of Channel 4’s teen drama Skins.
Nearly 20 years on, Gossip have returned after a 12-year hiatus (their last LP was in 2012). Not only that: they have almost equalled their anthem. Real Power, the title track of Gossip’s unexpected sixth album, blazes with a very similar combination of dancefloor mastery and excellent life advice as its predecessor. It’s a blast from the past that is bang on time.
Where SITWOC was written in response to proposed US federal legislation limiting same-sex marriage rights (which did not pass), Real Power came about in the wake of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Ditto’s adopted home of Portland, Oregon. The solidarity of people risking their health (it was 2020) to protest against police racism elides, in Ditto’s lyrics, with the crush and liberation of the dancefloor, with love that has its eyes wide open; with personal agency. The title of both song and album also nods to the Stooges’ proto-punk classic, Raw Power.
Gossip’s return has been organic. Ditto was trying to write another solo album with super-producer Rick Rubin when she called in Howdeshell and, later, Blilie, whose role in driving Gossip’s groove cannot be underestimated.
But there is a wider serendipity to Gossip’s reappearance. In 2023, 75 new laws were passed that the American Civil Liberties Union considered harmful to LGBTQ+ people. There are 479 more bills under scrutiny in the US that the ACLU has flagged. Most of them will not become law; according to the director of Loyola Marymount University’s LGBTQ politics research initiative, some of them feel like performative acts of conservatism in an election year. But as trailblazers for queer feminist visibility, for joy in the face of hate, it feels as if Gossip are right at home in 2024, where so many gains – a plethora of openly queer and trans performers in pop, for one – come juxtaposed with fresh threats.
The trio’s new album, though, is more of a personal than a political affair. The 11 tracks that make up Real Power are predominantly songs about love foundering – then found again. Gossip did a lot of living after they officially disbanded in 2016. Ditto and Howdeshell lost touch when he returned to rural Arkansas and became a born-again Christian. Ditto and her wife, Kristin Ogata, another very longstanding presence in Ditto’s life, divorced; she also lost her father. Blilie divorced too. Much of Real Power grapples with these ruptures. The other out-and-out stomper here is album-opener Act of God, a space-age soul delight where banshee backing vocals and haunted keys drive Ditto’s heartbreak home.
The personal is, of course, political. It’s not that the album doesn’t talk enough about power in the wider sense, it’s that Gossip often pull their musical punches. Real Power lacks oomph. A 45-minute record should go by in a rush of adrenaline; a car wash of tears, booty-shaking, catharsis. This is a very clean record that belies its long gestation, with little details honed to a shine.
It could be braver, weirder; more confident in its choices. Country is having a moment. The twangy undertow to songs such as Edge of the Sun or Tough could have been more bold; placed front and centre rather than tipped at. There is a house diva in Ditto’s range. Tell Me Something dangles that classic sound but fails to deliver, bolting some house piano to a lurking undertow that sounds like it belongs to another track. Much of Real Power percolates along skilfully, with tunes such as Peace and Quiet proving that the band really can wring the regret out of sad country-pop. These highs could have been more musically vertiginous and the lows more chasmic. It is a privilege to have them back, but you wish their music had the courage of Gossip’s convictions. Don’t Be Afraid is an epic intentionally trapped in a cheap Casio keyboard: underpowered.
