Ninca Leece: There Is No One Else When I Lay Down and Dream

Label: Bureau B

French by birth and Berliner by residence, Ninca Leece has a sound that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s followed her adopted city’s electronic-pop scene this decade: crisp and stylish, with club-friendly beats that rarely demand more than a steady toe-tap (but which could inspire mellow reveries on the dancefloor), and of course, Leece’s modern-girl-gone-mature vocals. There Is No One Else When I Lay Down and Dream (maybe she’s a fan of old Palace Brothers?) does little to advance ideas already set forth by artists such as Ellen Allien, Barbara Morgenstern or Masha Qrella, but it’s also impossible to dislike this album — its pure cosmopolitan charm is irresistible, even if it could have a 2005 vintage stamped on it. As a producer Leece’s touch is minimal and somewhat safe, but tracks like “The Uncut Version” and “You’re Walking in My Head” show why that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. (M.L. Thrope)