Spectra Paris

"License To Kill" (Album+DVD 2010)

Imagine Goldfinger’s Pussy Galore and The Pretender’s Chrissie Hynde in one body and you have Spectra Paris! Better known as half of long-running cult act Kirlian Kamera, on License to Kill, Elena Alice Fossi takes inspiration from the silver screen and 1960s spy movies in particular, a time when Sean Connery’s James Bond was still slapping the arses of the bikini-clad ladies fawning around him, but which at the same time gave us Goldfinger’s Pussy Galore who knew how to look after herself and used both her womanly wiles and flexibility to throw Bond around.

The album shares the title of the second Timothy Dalton Bond film outing, and features track titles like 007 Gold, Aston Martin DBS as well as the titular song. However, this is no pale imitation either of Bond film composer (the late, great) John Barry or his successor David Arnold; as when you explore in detail various film soundtracks genres become clearer. Again song titles hint at the sources of inspiration: A Clockwork London, Carrie Satan, and Lost Highway Voices. On 007 Gold its as if Front Line Assembly’s Mindphaser has crashed into Goldfrapp at a weird crossover party.

Though clearly produce with tongue firmly in cheek, the accompanying DVD of clips and bits is still most politely described as having a ‘home-made’ quality about it. 7/10

Rob Dyer (March 2011)