All I Need

“When I look at you, the drums all start beating,” Foxes sings on “Amazing,” just before she loses control of her wild heart and a swirl of strings, background voices and handclaps carry her skyward. There’s really no fire that Foxes thinks can’t be improved by the addition of gasoline. The U.K. singer’s second album is full of unabashedly hungry and hurt songs designed for the dancefloor and radio. Her music is both familiar and twisty, blowing up live drums into huge beats, telescoping her throaty voice into massive choruses, and diving into the trashy transcendence of Eurodisco power ballads. Sometimes it’s too familiar (the pre-chorus of “Body Talk” recalls Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” though that may be the point), and all the day-glo pop romantic agony can pile up after a while. But when it works — when a gospel choir lifts up the chorus of “Better Love,” or when “Wicked Love” explodes into Kate Bush vocal arpeggios — it’s a reminder of how just much fun the communal part of pop can be. Other people: not a bad thing to have at a party.