Considering how strong of a connection it effortlessly - and instantly - makes with its listener, it’s a total mystery how AlunaGeorge’s absolute earwig of a debut single ‘You Know You Like It’ managed to lurk unnoticed on the internet for about six months before finally getting attention earlier this year. In an electronic climate where artists are relentlessly pushing their own boundaries to the extent that journalists are required to coin a new genre name with each review that they write, it’s more than refreshing to hear an duo delivering streamlined dance music aiming straight for the bullseye, channeling the direct production stylings of mainstream '90s R&B into super-slinky pop numbers.

That’s not to say that ‘You Know You Like It’ sounds like homage or throwback - it’s undoubtedly the product of now, and an admirably forward-facing trio of tracks. The way that the squelchy bass pulses fluidly interact with the handclaps, for instance, is just one example of clear fingerprints from the dubstep and wonky movements of recent years. But nevertheless, these are songs with a crystallized clarity and accessibility associated with the mainstream of a bygone era where acts like Sweet Female Attitude were rightly tickling the charts; tracks with the sort of timeless pop instinct to sound just as cosy on Radio 1 ten or twenty years ago as they would today.

While George Reid’s music creates a sharply drawn landscape providing instant appeal to these songs, Aluna Francis’ charming and confident voice offers up an even more immediate hook for the ear, with its versatile capability and sexy British accent. As the rhythms and synths bounce and pulse behind her, Francis’ clean-as-a-bell vocal purrs like a top ten hit; her well defined, tightly focussed melodies taking you by the hand and affectionately guiding you through the songs’ sing-me-in-the-shower verse/bridge/chorus structures. There’s absolutely no danger of getting disorientated during this EP - it’s refinement of the three minute pop number to its most deliciously foundational, delivering huge choruses, unambiguous melodies and audible lyrics in a mixture which goes down silky, silky smooth.

But not to be too quickly pigeonholed even across three tracks, closing number ‘Put Your Hands Up’ does more to work against the could-have-been time capsule feel of this EP by having its chorus descend into a mash of glitched up vocals and pitch bending favoured by more contemporary reference points like Purity Ring - another injection of present-day vibrancy liable to stave off any mention of ‘nostalgia’ in their reviews. In arguably embracing the techniques of today’s best electronic creators while simultaneously battling upstream against their conventions, AlunaGeorge champion a yesteryear desire for delivering addictive vocal refrains with as much style as possible - a balancing act performed with tremendous success. And what’s most exciting of all is that You Know You Like It - for everything it does to evoke a past incarnation of mainstream R&B - it mostly comes across as a tantalising taster of what’s coming next.