Blackout Gorgeous

After more than a decade, Portishead’s Go still serves as cinematic shorthand for dangerous romance. Mixing potent, mood-setting powers with ominous undertones, that group’s songs play mischievous matchmaker, catalyzing affairs fated to end badly. In real life, ill-advised romances seldom receive the star-crossed musical backdrop they deserve. However, anyone looking to approach Mr. or Ms. Right Now, Wrong Later couldn’t ask for a better aural aphrodisiac than Blackout Gorgeous. The Kansas City group’s electronic drums and programmed beats stimulate motion without constricting conversation; its eerie effects and chilly keyboards recall horror-film scores, triggering cuddle-for-safety instincts; and its male-female vocal harmonies exemplify perfect coupling. Blackout Gorgeous’ lush compositions don’t guarantee a surrender to temptation, but for those who do succumb, they provide a seductive soundtrack worthy of big-screen heartbreak.