Album Review: Access All Areas by FLO

For a group as outwardly confident in their esteems, their bodies, and their character as FLO lyrically purports to be, it takes the most confidence to show up to MasterChef with your trio's signature dish being eggs, 16 ways. Not only do you have to get three people on the same page about what an egg looks like - you have to find 16 ways to not tank your reputation. Swap in sly-R'n'B/pop anthems for eggs and the world's stage for MasterChef, and you have a situation where your greatest superlative can only be, "I cannot believe you did not mess that up worse." Access All Areas is an assertively, confidently, confoundingly surface level record that succeeds in presenting their lead singles with various wigs on for 45 minutes and change.

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Drawing from the powerhouses of 90s and 2000s R&B, the London based trio comprises three exceptionally talented vocalists - Renee Downer, Jorja Douglas, and Stella Quaresma - who feel a "dedication to making girl group history. " And these ambitions aren't far-fetched at all - the girls have received a great deal of accolades already, most notably winning the Brits Rising Star award in 2023, being the first band to ever do so. Having introduced themselves via a promising batch of songs across EPs The Lead and 3 Of Us, showcasing a solid and sophisticated approach to their craft - meanwhile rubbing shoulders and joining artistic forces with a range of eminent musicians traversing the R&B spectrum - the sheer potential of FLO could be detected from a mile away.

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FLO - comprising Jorja Douglas, Renée Downer and Stella Quaresma - carry the vocal-based pop baton passed down from the likes of Sugababes, SWV and "countless other iconic baddies," to use the words of Wicked actor Cynthia Erivo on the record's red-curtain opener 'Intro'. This legacy is reanimated full-throttle by the 2023 BRIT Rising Star recipients across debut 'Access All Areas'. It's meta in its imitation, depicting a staged showcase of inspired, energetic, throwback R&B that infuses "bad bitch replenishment" to a post-Destiny's Child world with campy reverence.

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The past two years have bore witness to FLO's rocketing breakthrough – from TikTok covers to Jimmy Fallon , the group have already ticked off a plethora of global achievements. Nonetheless, their profusely anticipated debut album surprisingly only arrives this year. The 16 track project begins with ethereal narration from Cynthia Erviro. The multi-faceted Wicked star gives off fairy godmother-like energy as she expresses "Planet Earth was in dire need of bad bitch replenishment".

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