In fact, if they’d have presented a less gauche vocal approach (I wish the vox were more assertive, frankly) then this disc would have been closer to the stuff on prime time talent shoes than the ideas espoused by Micachu or These New Puritans…
In fact, if they’d have presented a less gauche vocal approach (I wish the vox were more assertive, frankly) then this disc would have been closer to the stuff on prime time talent shoes than the ideas espoused by Micachu or These New Puritans…
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A fine record, a very much a pop record despite all the blurps, bleeps, clever insertions and random electronics. This lot aren’t a band, they are an arts collective, apparently. This isn’t a bad thing, I wasn’t being sniffy saying that; as whatever this arts collective does, it seems to allow the music they make some kind of freedom in expressing things that would just come across as false or overblown with more traditional-minded outfits. There’s no straightjacket and what could be seen as preposterously pompous, (getting Hauschka in to “sort” a string arrangement and then cutting and pasting it all over Pacemaker), sort of goes by as par for the course here. Still as I said, this is a pop record, and I don’t want you to think it isn’t… Electrician, Interference and Edward the Confessor are soul-boy yomps; by contrast 2 Years is a shiny torch ballad that has decided to wear weeds and slum it in the supermarket car park.
Elsewhere we get pretty stabndard rock songs dressed up as something edgier – Wood and Plastic is a rock song, albeit one that’s had a bumpy ride into unknown territory and is still shaken by the experience. Governing Correctly – with its mid-tempo electro and chanted vocal lines could be the Beta Band. In fact, if they’d have presented a less gauche vocal approach (I wish the vox were more assertive at times, frankly) then this disc would have been closer to the stuff on prime time talent shoes than the ideas espoused by Micachu or These New Puritans, (although you can hear similarities with these acts, especially with tracks like Ghost Note and Oxides). This isn’t a bad thing at ll, in that it gives Breton a chance to really develop their muse – once the hype and gushing plaudits have been assigned elsewhere… Best is served last; the brooding trip-hoppy The Commission is a true cracker, throwing the rest of the record into a skip almost… Let’s hope they keep pushing on and carve out a shelf life longer than the hype machine would normally allow.
A very good record then, and expect collaborations with Elton John very soon.