A Charming Listen
A bright, bubbling collection of dancing atmospherics and charming vocals; Psapp's name even reflects their innovative brand of music. Unlike the creative and off-beat creations of many similar bands; Psapp manage to maintain both inventive atmospheric layers which create a captivating depth, and catchy tunes that actually stick in your head, mostly due to the luscious vocals which weave all the music together.
'King Of You' melds sweet, mellifluous keyboards with floating vocals to create a slightly kitsch masterpiece. 'This Way' sounds like a resplendent aural fairground, scattered with vague sounds and dreamy violins. 'Needle and Thread' has a funky rhythm with a mild latino dance injection which will get your hips moving, while 'New Rubbers' uses the same clockwork percussion to break up a sorrowful vocal line which reverberates above a tinny woodwind sound.
'Hill of our Home' reaches a transient melancholy with sighing vocals matched by wispy rippling piano backing, while recent single 'Tricycle' has a certain dollhouse chique to its playful noises and twinkling sounds, which have the innocence of a playground, but a beauty far beyond its age.
'The Words' ups the tempo again with a shimmying, bright feast of offbeat zest, which is again very much danceable and rhythmically enticing, before 'Eating Spiders' returns to a more pensive style with its careening chanting and shimmering electro-acoustic style; it's a great back to basics indie stunner. Singer Galia Durant's rich, smooth vocals peep nervously through the tentative musical musings of closer 'Upstairs', which leaves enough silence for you to reflect on the album, while providing enough inspiration for you to think how intricately choreographed it must be.
Psapp's richly textured and varied tunes and filled with a simplistic innocence and desire to experiment which delights the listener without being too vague or inaccessible. 'The Only Thing I Ever Wanted' is a charming album which moves perfectly between dynamic, quirky pop songs and reflective off kilter ballads without any dull moments; the only thing you could ever want of Psapp is to hear more of them!