Peggy Gou — artist, DJ, and producer — can’t seem to stop creating soulful dance anthems. Her latest single, “I Believe In Love Again,” coalesces around a dreamy soundscape made all the more rapt by the iconic presence of Lenny Kravitz. It’s the second track she’s shared off her forthcoming debut album, slated for release sometime next year via XL Recordings.
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Since she first started performing and releasing music, Gou has risen from an underground phenomenon to an internationally recognized trendsetter. It all started with a move from Korea to London, where she was mesmerized by the world that flourished inside the city’s legendary nightclub, Plastic People. Those early experiences instilled in her an ardent appreciation for the intimate exultations and liberation that dance music could provide.
Two back-to-back EPs served as her debut in 2016 — Art of War and Art of War (Pt. II) — four sublime tracks that announced Gou’s arrival as a devoted innovator of house and techno. Keeping the momentum going, she dropped Seek for Maktoop that same year, with rivetingly hypnotic songs like “Gou Talk” launching her to new heights on the global stage.
The release of Once in 2018 delivered an evolution in Gou’s sound, unleashing a vibrant mixture of tribal beats and heady electronica. It also saw her step out from behind her entrancing creations, adding another spellbinding dimension to her music as she sang and rapped on tracks like “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” and “Han Jan.”
Gou’s prolific creative energy is surpassed only by her need to perform her music live for ravenously emotional crowds. It’s why she spends so much time touring and performing at clubs and festivals worldwide. She even started curating her own one-day festival — Pleasure Gardens — which is now in its fourth year at London’s Finsbury Park. On top of that, Gou is the founder of Gudu Records, an independent music and design label dedicated to finding and distributing “cutting edge dance music.”
With the release of “I Believe In Love Again” and lead single “(It Goes Like) Nanana” she’s gearing up for the hotly anticipated arrival of her debut album. The latter emerged as an adrenaline-pumping dance track earlier this year, evoking vintage disco-tinted club anthems that meld radiantly with Gou’s stylistic flair—reveling in the euphoria of the dancefloor against the glint of synths and soaring keys.
Gou’s collaboration with Kravitz is a testament to her earnest spirit of collaboration and genre-transcending recognition as a sensational artist. “The 90s have had such a huge influence on my music,” she admitted. “People know about my love of the dance/house/rave scene from that time but I’ve always been a big R&B fan, and also a huge fan of Lenny. I listened endlessly to his 1998 album 5 — my personal favourite — but his whole discography is great, totally timeless.”
Those R&B influences are seamlessly entwined in the new track’s slow-burning melody. Ebbing and flowing alongside Kravitz’s joyous cries and a particularly sensual and ravishing riff. Like so many of Gou’s pieces, the song is a blissful ode to the feelings of love and ecstasy that are inextricably tied to dance and electronic music. Yet it’s also a reminder that she’s just as adept at creating endorphin-galvanizing anthems as she is at sizzlingly soulful hits.
Words: Steven Ward
Visit Peggy Gou on her website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to “I Believe In Love Again” (feat. Lenny Kravitz) the new single from Peggy Gou below!
