Lopez Blogs

How many artists out there would be bold and ambitious enough to release three albums in one year, particularly in today’s very fragile music marketplace? Not many, I would imagine, so it’s "three cheers" for Robyn as she has boldly gone where most other artists wouldn’t dare to go.
"Body Talk Part 2" is, as the title suggests, the second part of the trilogy. Already well-received by music critics in her native Sweden, who are particularly proud of one of their country’s hottest musical exports of recent years.

At a time when female acts seem to be dominating the charts, and you can’t open a tabloid newspaper without daily shots of Katy Perry, The Saturdays, Cheryl Cole etc, Robyn’s profile in this country is still relatively low. Which is just fine: despite her own very striking image, she is still known first and foremost for her music, and continues to compete on her own terms.

Where its predecessor opened in confrontational manner with the stark "Don’t F****** Tell Me What To Do", the second album opens in a warm and welcoming manner with "In My Eyes", in which she reassures us that everything will be all right - "....it’ll be OK". This song is better than OK, actually: it’s a perfect example of her effortless style of pop.

The good feeling continues on "Include Me Out" which is less electro-pop and more electro-r’n’b, complete with a mid-song rap from the lady herself.

"Hang With Me" previously debuted on "Body Talk Part 1" as a ballad, but here it is in all its dance-pop glory. Like all the best pop acts, Robyn knows the value of simplicity in getting her point across, and "don’t fall recklessly, headlessly in love with me" is probably one of the best lines in a pop song for a long long time.

Robyn continues to get her point across on the pulsating electro track "Love Kills" which has a very clear message - "protect yourself!" - and a catchy chorus.

As with "Body Talk Pt 1" though, things get a little patchy. I wasn’t so impressed by "We Dance To The Beat" which I’d only consider as filler and no more. "Criminal Intent" is a little better, with that hookline "somebody alert the authorities, I’ve got criminal intent", but again it’s not much of a song. On the plus side though, they do show off her versatility as an artist and her hip-hop/dance influences.

A guest appearance next from Snoop Dogg, who seems to be a bit of a rapper for hire these days, but at least he gets more to do on this than his recent, lazy contribution to Katy Perry’s "California Gurls". This one merits the ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker thanks to Robyn’s fondness for the ‘F’ word on this one. "U Should Know Better" offers the advice not to mess with her, and I love that lyric "...the whole industry knows not to f*** with me". Both Ms Carlsson and Mr Dogg sound as if they had a great time making this one.

Finally, "Indestructible" which, in the style of "Hang With Me" appears here first in ballad form and is promised to return on "Body Talk Part 3" (due for release around December 2010, I think??), in its full dance-pop glory. The ballad version is fine - although maybe not as good as the ballad version of "Hang With Me" - but as I always prefer uptempo to ballads, then I’m looking forward to the dance-version will definitely improve the song.

Like its predecessor, "Body Talk Pt 2" isn't quite a ten out of ten album, but it's still one of the best recent releases I've heard. Both albums demonstrate the talent and versatility of one of today’s best pop artists. Imagine how good her "Best Of" album will be....in the meantime, bring on Part 3!!

This year, more than ever, I've been turning my back on British music. Having a blog called "EuropeCrazy" might be an indication that this is a deliberate choice, but I can definitely assure you it's not. I want British music to be good, to be great, to be innovative - not for any particularly patriotic reason, but purely because I'm a music fan, and I want to love good music wherever it's from. So I'm particularly delighted with the success of Plan B, who is one of the very few new acts who have broken through this year who are actually worth bothering about.

Versatility is also a talent to be treasured. When Plan B kicked off his music career as a gritty rapper, his music had completely passed me by at that point. The last thing you'd have expected was for his next step to be a retro-soul revelation. Who knew that he had such a fabulous white soul falsetto voice?

My first encounter with Plan B, mk II, was on hearing "Stay Too Long" and it literally stopped me in my tracks. With its Northern Soul-type beat (an immediate winner for me), bursting with urgency, it seemed to perfectly capture the spirit of a 'lads night out'.

The unusually titled album is that very un-2010 concept, a concept album, about an innocent man found guilty of a crime he didn't commit and he's sent down...so hence "Welcome To Hell"...and things get darker for the main protagonist. Yet despite the dark theme, Plan B has taken up residence on many a radio playlist thanks to the massive, catchy hit "She Said" although I prefer the follow-up, "Prayin'" which might I suggest owes a great big debt to "Beggin'" - another song which I completely love, so borrow from the best I say!

Whilst listening to this album I thought of another former favourite of this blog - Daniel Merriweather, whom I had high hopes for but his debut album was an overall disappointment. Dare I suggest that "The Defamation Of Strickland Banks" was the album that Merriweather should have made.

A further indication of Ben Drew's versatility is that he will now turn his back on the retro-soul sound for his third album, "The Ballad of Belmarsh" which will be a hip-hop album. Clearly he doesn't 'stay too long' (groan) with the same musical style!

"The Defamation...." meanwhile accurately captures a 60s soul sound and updates it for the 21st century - and defines 'soul' in the true sense, rather than the soul-less drivel which has hijacked that term in recent years. Well done Plan B.

The casual radio listeners could be forgiven for thinking that Keane’s recorded output stopped after "This Is The Last Time", as none of their subsequent singles have been a fixture on any radio playlists since then.

So I was pleasantly surprised to hear their most recent single, "Stop For A Minute" getting regular airplay on my local radio station recently. Keane have been away for a while, but they’ve been working hard on new material and been prolific enough to release this mini-album as a stopgap between "Perfect Symmetry" and their fourth full album.

Keane’s critical acclaim for "Perfect Symmetry" didn’t quite translate into commercial success as it seemed the fickle British record buying public had moved on. The band do however have a loyal fanbase who put "Night Train" into the top 10 albums on its release, although the state of the British singles chart suggests that a band like Keane will probably never make the top 20 singles chart again. So it was no surprise that despite the airplay, "Stop For A Minute" failed to chart.

"Night Train" is further proof that Keane are one of this country’s best bands - although remain extremely underrated following the initial hysteria of their debut album "Hopes and Fears" which for me remains their best work. However they continue to musically develop and explore new musical styles.

"Back In Time", which follows a short instrumental intro track, sees Keane in more familiar territory, then the aforementioned "Stop for a Minute" has a guest appearance from rapper K’naan, who’s currently burning up the worldwide charts with that great little World Cup song "Wavin’ Flag".

"Clear Skies" is a more acoustic flavoured song which is well worth a listen.

If a second single is to be released off the album (although I doubt this - I could be wrong though?), "Your Love" would be a great choice. This is a major departure for the band as it features Tim Rice-Oxley on vocals (did I ever tell you that I had a minor crush on Mr Rice-Oxley??) - he’s not just a pretty face but a talented songwriter and rather good singer too. When you have such a great vocalist as Tom Chaplin it could be quite intimidating stepping out into the spotlight, but Tim does it with some style. You can see why there are some well-documented ‘power struggles’ within the band.

"Looking Back" er, ‘borrows’ from the Rocky theme. Another track which features K’naan. I’m not sure if Keane and rapping works, but they seemed to enjoy it. "Ishin Denshin" is a bit strange, and closer "My Shadow" is a U2-style building ballad, but I wouldn’t be too bothered if I heard it again.

"Night Train" may be a little patchy in places, but it proves yet again that Keane have a lot of life left in them yet, and it's enough to keep the fans happy until the next album comes along.

With "Body Talk Pt 2" on the way and already causing much excitement I thought I'd better get a move on and get my review of Part 1 out of the way :)

It’s been a long time since Robyn released her hugely successful self-titled album. So it’s about time for another one. Or in Robyn’s case, another three (!) Yes, this is the first part of a trilogy of new albums from ‘the killingest pop star on the planet’. But is this all killer and no filler?

Robyn has her own distinctive musical style which has certainly influenced the recent crop of electro-influenced female singers. It’s clear that she’s not like all the other girls though... Those acts who were last year’s next big thing will fade fast but Robyn will still be around, because she's not a one-dimensional bandwagon jumper: instead she has the talent, the versatility and she does it all on her own terms.

A fact that’s very obvious in the first track on the album, "Don’t F****** Tell Me What To Do". Unfortunately it’s a little repetitive, with the singer rapping about all the things that are ‘killing her’. It’s, um, different I guess, but I don’t think I’d be giving this one repeated listening.

"Fembots" was the first song we heard from the album, and it combines a cute and catchy chorus line with something a little more leftfield, although the rest of the song isn't as good as the chorus.

The album’s high point is "Dancing On My Own". When you hear this winning combination of melancholic lyrics and pulsating electronic beats - a formula which previously worked so well on "With Every Heartbeat" you can see why it was chosen to be the album’s first single. Robyn makes pop music which sounds effortless - "Cry When You Get Older" is a good example of a catchy pop song and if you had any doubt that Robyn could turn her hand to other styles check out "Dancehall Queen" - electro-reggae.

"None of Dem" - a collaboration with Royksopp, with whom she worked on "The Girl and the Robot" isn’t quite as good as that track but it’s a grower as it goes on.

"Hang With Me" is a lovely piano ballad - you get the feeling that Robyn ‘means it’ and that’s what sets her apart from all those other female acts. Of course this track has now been remade in a dance-version and opinions are divided. For what it's worth though, I like both versions - which yet again says a lot about Robyn's talent: the emotional pull of the ballad version and the electro-dance remake both pack a punch.

Finally, Robyn puts her own distinctive stamp on traditional Swedish folk song "Jag Vet En Dejlig Rosa" - I particularly love it when Swedish pop stars sing in their own language!

All in all, "Body Talk Pt 1", on its own may not be an absolutely classic album, but it may just turn out to be an important part of a classic trilogy. Roll on part 2!!

"It's back!!!" as the TV ad used to say. But things have changed. Once upon a time I eagerly awaited the release of Britain's longest-running and most successful chart hits compilation album. But with the British singles chart in steep decline, I inevitably greeted the latest in the series with a weary shrug instead of gleeful enthusiasm.

It's not the fault of the album's compilers as they have so little in the way of chart hits to go on - since the arrival of the download single I had hoped that this would call a halt to the pre-download trend of 'in at no.1 one week, dropped to no. 23 the next' but instead the chart has become so stagnant that you could take a break from looking at the chart for a few weeks and on your return you would still find the same songs.

So as I said they don't have too much selection of hits to choose from, but they manage to get an accurate reflection of the UK Top 40 at present - a mix of American pop, tedious r'n'b/grime, kiddie/X Factor pop and the odd dance track. Highlights are few and far between - only Robyn, Example, Scissor Sisters, K'naan, Swedish House Mafia, Train and David Guetta get the thumbs up from me, otherwise most of it just sounds like the Galaxy Radio playlist, and if you are "lucky" enough to live in a reception area for that station then you'll know that's definitely not a good thing.

If we can be reassured on one thing, it's that pop music goes in cycles, and that this musical hell shouldn't last too much longer. And for everything else, there's the music blogs: where you will discover more good music than you ever thought existed!!

From what seems like an endless line of creative Swedish musical geniuses comes Malmo’s very own Magnus Tingsek, with his fourth album "Restless Soul", which he tells us on the sleeve notes was made in a 25m² room in Malmo, and should be played loud. Sometimes you wonder what they are putting in the water in Sweden, to create so many talented singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalists. He writes, sings and plays bass, drums, guitar, piano, percussion...the list goes on.

One other thing I noticed on the sleevenotes was a heartfelt comment by Tingsek: "I make music for one reason only: I love it and simply can’t live this life without it". I think that speaks volumes about this man’s passion for music - and I could identify with that as a listener too.

To describe Tingsek’s music? Well, the best description for me would be "acoustic soul". "Good Vs Bad" which is by far the best track on the album, was also released as a single and just missed out on my 2009-50 chart because I discovered it too late. Had I heard it earlier, it would probably have made my top 10 songs of last year. (I didn’t expect any new material from him so soon after 2008’s "Too Many Feelings At The Same Time" so that was my main reason for not checking if he had any new material coming out.) Tingsek has his very own sound but brings in some other influences from time to time. "Stimulation Overload" with its chord progressions completely reminds me of Sinclair, one of my favourite French artists (although is not really indicative of Sinclair’s predominantly soul/funk style - but, well....still reminds me of him anyway, I’m finding it hard to describe!)

"Six Years" is very indicative of the Tingsek template - choppy guitars and minimal keyboards - and features Pauline on guest vocals. I was unfamiliar with her work prior to Melodifestivalen 2010, where she competed with "Sucker For Love" which has totally grown on me since then even though she didn’t reach the final. Anyway this works very well.

The other guest artist on the album, Slakah The Beatchild, adds an extra dimension particularly on "Leave It All Behind". Another track worth recommending is "Stick To You" which is very danceable and has that Daft Punk "Harder, Better, Faster Stronger" feel to it, only in Tingsek style of course.

There are also delicious string flourishes which often add a special touch. My only criticism of this album is that melody is often sacrificed for exquisite musical arrangements. Tingsek’s passion for his music is unquestionable, but a bit more work on the melodic side wouldn’t have gone amiss. What can’t be denied however is that Magnus Tingsek has a very distinctive sound and a creative spark which will ensure that he will be around for a long time to come.

Firstly I just want to wish a happy three-quarter-century to one of our most favourite compilation albums!

Welcome to Now 75, which from its tracklisting could also be described as the flat-lining of the British singles chart. Although it could be said that the 'Now' series has never been an accurate reflection of the British music scene as a whole, however it has always been a pretty accurate measure of the British singles chart, and when the musical historians come to unearth the time capsule of British chart-pop then the 'Now' series would inevitably be there.

Looking at the tracklisting it becomes very apparent that on digging up the buried musical treasures of late 2009/early 2010 then we can expect those historians to be very depressed indeed. For much of Now 75 is cluttered up with the autotuned-to-death urban/grime/r'n'b which is polluting the charts to the exclusion of any decent music. Iyaz? Tinie Tempah? Chipmunk? Chiddy Bang? Young Money? Naughty Boy? Who are these people and what gives them the right to chart, just because their songs have been played to death on Galaxy and their videos are on heavy rotation on most of the music channels?

It's not all bad though: CD1 does have Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance" on it, which is that rare thing in these times - a memorable pop single which actually did well in the charts - but there is very little on CD1 that I would want to hear again, with a couple of exceptions - "On A Mission" by Gabriella Cilmi and "About A Girl" by the much-maligned Sugababes mk.25 (or thereabouts). CD1 also has a nod to X Factor/Team Cowell and its dreary hangers-on: Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry and the hideous Jedward. How they were ever allowed to make a record is anyone's guess :( And as for "Everybody Hurts" by Helping Haiti: good cause, completely duff record.

There are a couple of rare gems on CD2 - I was very surprised that a simple little song like "Fireflies" by Owl City could get to no.1 in these miserable musical times, whilst I can only cheer that something genuinely different and original like Plan B's "Stay Too Long" - one of the best singles of 2010 and a cert for my 2010-50 chart at the end of the year - made it to the top 10 of the UK singles chart.

Another treat on the album is "Many of Horror" by Biffy Clyro - a very rare sighting of a "real band" among the grime-dross, over-hyped pop and overplayed tripe.

CD2 also features some of the over-hyped quirky females who have taken over the charts in recent times - Florence & The Machine, Marina & the Diamonds, Ellie & the Goulding - sorry I mean Ellie Goulding, whose "Starry Eyed" is probably the most bearable of all three.

Now 75 also features not one but two versions of "Don't Stop Believin'" - the Journey original and the nightmare that is the Glee Cast cover. Now don't get me wrong: I like "Glee" a lot, but the musical soundtrack is increasingly making me cringe and I reach for the fast-forward button whenever the songs come on.

CD2 is probably better than CD1, although it kicks off with what feels like the most-played song on the radio in recent years - "Empire State of Mind", this time in its Alicia Keys-version rather than with Jay-Z; we don't have to wait too long for Mr Z though, as he pops up shortly afterwards with Mr Hudson on "Young Forever".

All in all, "Now 75" is a very depressing compilation, although I will reiterate that it is a completely accurate reflection of the current music scene. The one positive thing to take from it is that there is good music around elsewhere: you just have to know where to look for it.

I mentioned in my previous post about Neil McCormick’s article on the rise and fall of the next big things, and how that fate may or may not befall Erik Hassle. Big in blog-land this year, and tipped for Robbie-sized success (Guardian’s new band of the day), Erik Hassle had a lot to live up to before his debut album was released.

On the evidence of "Hassle" recently released in Sweden - the British version, with a different title ("Pieces") and album cover, is out later this year - he needn’t worry, because he delivers.

I initially didn’t understand why "Hurtful" wasn’t the first single in the UK, but thought some more about it and realised that maybe that was quite a smart decision, as releasing "Don’t Bring Flowers" has got him some publicity and some press coverage, so maybe by the time "Hurtful" is out, the recognition will already be there and - hopefully - the charts will be there for the taking.

"Bump in the Road" is a powerful opener. "Hurtful" is still the standout track on the album. "The Thanks I Get" is also impressive: it’s a teary-eyed lovelorn ballad. Now you know I don’t like ballads but I find this one genuinely touching.

"Wanna Be Loved" comes on like a cross between EMD’s "Baby Goodbye" (the whistling hookline) and The Beatles’ "Eleanor Rigby" (the "all the lonely people" lyric) yet is an uptempo pop-rock track which succeeds on its own merits. The lyrics on "First Time" recall teenage memories and will feel very relevant to anyone in that age group, whilst the more mature "Bitter End" is reminiscent of Coldplay and Keane’s big sweeping soaring anthems.

There’s another pretty acoustic ballad, "All I Wanted Was You" - what particularly struck me about this track (and the album in general) is that young Mr Hassle isn’t following the crowd and is just making the music he wants to make, whilst having the potential mass appeal of an act like The Script for example. My worry is that in the cureent UK musical climate, there doesn’t seem to be any room for quality pop music, and I return to the "next big things" debate.

In Sweden, Erik Hassle will be allowed to develop as an artist: that isn’t such a certainty in this country. A young man with big hair and big talent, Erik Hassle deserves massive success. I only hope that he will be allowed to have it.

Rating: 7½ out of 10.

It’s that age-old dilemma once again: can dance acts make good albums? In many cases the answer is a definite ‘no’. But Calvin Harris is not just any old dance act. Regular readers of this blog will be well aware that I’ve liked his music a lot since his debut - "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls" were never off my stereo at the time, and with "Dance Wiv Me" (also featured here) he managed to do the impossible and get me to like a Dizzee Rascal record. The first time I heard "I’m Not Alone" (which is officially the most searched-for song on this blog, ever!) I absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to hear this album.

At the moment, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve been time-transported back to, say, 1982: we’re deep in recession, three million on the dole, the record companies are falling over themselves to sign one electro-pop act after another, and the British charts are full of rubbish.
But here is Mr Harris to cheer us all up with a dose of euphoric dance-pop which, even if most of it sounds "acceptable in the 90s" then what’s wrong with that? (I happen to think that the 90s was an underrated musical decade which will someday get the positive re-evaluation it deserves).

The album starts off with an absolute cracker - "The Rain" had me hooked immediately. Despite its title it’s a dance anthem filled with positivity and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The title track (and follow-up single to "I’m Not Alone") is a hands-in-the-air dance anthem with a great chorus.

"Stars Come Out" is like two songs in one: to these ears it’s got more of an 80s electro-house vibe than a 90s feel, and I love the way it changes about halfway through. "You Used To Hold Me" doesn’t float my boat so much, purely because its repetitive chorus really annoys me, but this is one for the electro-dance crowd.

"Blue" shows off a more reflective side to Calvin, and is probably as near as he gets to a ballad, well an electro-one anyway (!) I do like his vocals, even if a lot of the time he chooses to feed them through a vocoder/autotune thingy, but he even does this in a more positive way.

Next is "I’m Not Alone" which is my favourite single by a British artist in 2009 so far. Euphoric, commercial dance at its very best, which recalls Faithless at the top of their game, and that unforgettable chorus - "If I see a light flashing, could this mean that I’m coming home?"

I read somewhere that "Flashback" is to be the next single: it's perhaps more trancey than its predecessors and probably won't do so well as a result, although artistically it's a triumph I guess.

"Worst Day" reminds me, for no particular reason, of N.E R.D.'s "Maybe" and is a diversion from the stadium dance concept of this album. Like many other albums of late, "Ready For The Weekend" loses its focus a little in the latter tracks but is still very much worth a listen. Despite its title, "Burns Night" isn’t an electro-bagpipe piece of haggis-house but is a reflective instrumental; "Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La" won't ever win any prizes for lyrical genius but reminds me of Bob Sinclar, for some reason.

The ‘rich kids’ in the media who dictate and force-feed us with musical trends may not like this album and prefer to push on with hyping this year’s thing, but Twitter-rant aside, I doubt if Calvin Harris should really be too bothered about their criticism, as he's made a commercial dance album to be very proud of indeed, and has brought some long overdue musical sunshine into these dark, rainy days.

Having seen their very nice performance on last week’s "Sommarkrysset" I thought it was time to finally post my review of this album!

Last weekend I had my usual weekly ritual of watching TV4's "Sommarkrysset" on the internet. A rather enjoyable show it was too, with Moneybrother and E.M.D. among last week's musical guests. Suddenly it struck me that I had never posted my reviews of their most recent albums due to other commitments at the times of their release, so let's get this sorted right now :)

There's something reassuring about another release by Anders Wendin and his merry men, and even major line-up changes haven't changed his signature sound, which to these ears always sounded like a cross between Bruce Springsteen, The Clash and some other post-punk bands, whilst always retaining his own distinctive style.

First single "Born Under A Bad Sign" opens the album with its singalong chorus. You wouldn't expect a song with a title like "We Die Only Once (For Such A Long Time)" to be a cheery little reggae-flavoured foot-tapper, but amazingly it is.

"6 am" (the song he performed on last week's "Sommarkrysset" has a very disjointed 3-songs-in-1 approach, but despite this it seems to work and it has a strong chorus. "Never Ever (I've Been Kissed)" seems to channel Wendin's inner Roy Orbison, if the vocals are anything to go by. Anders Wendin mainly sticks with his usual croaky, gruff Springsteen-style vocals on most of the songs, but "Not That Old" is very surprising with its falsetto vocals, well as near to falsetto as you're likely to get from Mr Wendin!!

"Just Another Part Of Me That Breaks Down": Long song title - check. Stop-start musical-energy - check.

The pace slows down for a big ol' croaky ballad "Young Faithful Love" but then we're soon back at home in Moneybrother's high-speed territory. "Here Comes The Vain Again" has a driving beat whilst "Feel Like Hurting Somebody" seems to mix soul and punk and strangely enough reminds me of early Dexy's Midnight Runners (!)

There is nothing on here as classic as, say, "Reconsider Me" or "...Joanna" or even "Just Another Summer", but many of the tracks stand up to repeated listening as it doesn't take long for them to eat their way into your musical brain :)

Six years on from his debut album, Anders Wendin continues to make the music he wants to make, timeless good old fashioned rock n' roll, filled with excitement and urgency. He makes no concession to here-today-gone-tomorrow musical fashions or trends, and we should be eternally grateful to him for that alone. If "Real Control" is more of the same, then that's just fine by me.

"I'm just in awe of what's in front of me"

Firstly, can I just say that this album review is 6 months late, as I ordered the album back in January and it was delivered on its initial release date: but due to circumstances, time went on and one month turned into another...so here we are at the end of June 2009, with EOTS finally having broken into the UK singles chart with "We Are The People" so I thought it would be a good time to publish my review. Better late than never.

The unique selling point about this Aussie duo is that they neither look, nor sound, like anyone else. They have a distinctive image, which once seen will never be forgotten. Their music is almost always compared to another duo who achieved fame over the last 12 months, MGMT, but in my opinion EotS are much much better.

The main thing about this album - dare I say a stumbling block - is that the first four tracks "Standing on the Shore"/"Walking On A Dream"/"Half Mast"/"We Are The People" - are so stunning that they overshadow everything that follows, to such an extent that it could be described as an album of two halves - the outstanding first four tracks are probably the only ones you will need, and if they are to define EotS' career, then that would be a fine quartet to remember them by.

The lyrics of "We Are The People" make reference to 1975. There is perhaps a retro feel to some of EotS' music which sounds as if it could have come from that time, and that's maybe what makes it special for me. I'm really glad this song made the UK top 20 - but I was also pleasantly surprised too, that something of such considerable quality could break through into a chart mainly consisting of dire tedious rubbish.

If you do manage to get beyond the first four tracks, then well done. The bad news is that there is nothing to match their greatness - although "Delta Bay" is weird and wonderful with its falsetto vocals; instrumental "Country" is reminiscent of the Twin Peaks theme (remember that?); "Swordfish Hotkiss Night" has the duo channelling their inner Prince; and closing ballad "Without You" definitely sounds as if it was lifted off an 80s film soundtrack.

Empire of the Sun is a unique act with lots and lots of promise for the future - they've delivered a great (if uneven) album but if they keep on developing their musical vision then they will become a real force to be reckoned with.