Latest album from European indie-pop band.
The latest album from European quartet (with members from Sweden and France respectively) entitled 'Giant' sees the addition of Lisa, the sibling of drummer Neman on backing vocals. 'Giant' also saw the band able to introduce a more lavish production style and includes backing from girl group The Woo-Woos, a band that Lisa is a member of.
Opening with the blissful 'I Wish That I Could See You Soon', a gloriously upbeat and appealing song that seems to have launched itself straight from Belle&Sebastian's stable. A song perfect for mix CD aficionados everywhere, it ensures the album is off to a strong start.
Next up is the softer, percussion-led 'Nickel Chrome', showing the band can do soulful just as easily as excitable. 'Bristol' is the next remarkable track, with the storytelling style of Belle once again, meeting a very brisk rhythm making the song instantly likeable. The more jazzy style of 'Pure Hearts' work less well, but on an album with 16 tracks, it's likely there will be a few that fall short of greatness. The Gospel-tinged 'No Master' follows and its percussion style is irresistible.
Overall this album is charming and easy to like, but sadly lacks any truly memorable moments, and slides far too easily into the twee/dreampop genre without challenging anything. 'Giant' also suffers from having too many tracks and the jazz-inflected ones don't really work. Choosing to end on an instrumental is an odd decision too. However, this album is easy to recommend for sheer enjoyment, just don't expect Herman Dune to revolutionise music.