Planet Earth – the musical equivalent of cider, wooly jumpers and sheep farming – are twee beyond belief and I love it.
‘Bergman Movies’ is a typical Planet Earth song: devastatingly simple, using a very basic chord sequence with a gentle layering of instruments. The lyrics are neither tired and hackneyed, nor pretentious and aloof, but comfortingly delightful and homely.
“Mystic Rainbow, he’s a biter/Red Volcano, he’s a biter” – I couldn’t tell you what that means, but I’ve had those lines from ‘He’s A Biter’, the fifth track on Immaculate Machine’s new album High on Jackson Hill stuck in my head for the last few days.
That’s not a bad thing.
Au Revoir Simone’s new single is many things; a massive change of direction it is not.
Nevertheless, this product of their precise, understated disco pop machine proves more than impressive. The sinister, hypnotic background bass and darting keyboards which urgently drive Shadows notably set the scene, while effortless vocals drift eerily over the top.
Duke Special is Peter Wilson. So what’s so special about him, aside from his dreadlocks and bus-stop “hobo-chic”?
Well, Sweet Sweet Kisses is brimming with numerous orchestral instruments which wouldn’t go amiss in a musical. Add to this a powerful voice, sincerely charismatic, but slightly overwhelming in the company of the understated harps, flutes and piano.
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and that’s certainly the case with this song. The seven second introduction doesn’t do it much justice but once you’ve got stuck in it’s a different story.
When Annie Clark dons the moniker of St. Vincent, extraordinary things happen. In her 2007 debut, Marry Me, Clark exhibited a witty verve for lyric-writing and an adventurous spirit in her musical arrangements which has come to spectacular fruition in her new release.