Jack Penate - Everything Is New - Out now
We’ve commented before on RealMusic Blog how much we heart Jack Penate mkII and we weren’t lying. His sophomore album Everything Is New is nothing short of brilliant, each track popping with electro frippery with splashes of reggae, disco and even hip-hop, all skewered together with Jack’s croaky voice. Jack used to be the ugly second-cousin of indie-pop, but no more. Now he’s the crown prince of electro-pop and he’s got the tight trousers to prove it.
La Roux - La Roux - Out June 29th
La Roux’s much-anticipated debut album is out on Monday and we’ve had it on repeat at RealMusic Blog Towers all week long. On first listen, one of my colleagues commented: “That reminds me, I must book an 80s band for my wedding.” That about sums it up really: listening to La Roux is like being transported back to an 80s nightclub, except this time we’re not drinking gin, lime & wine in the same glass while we prop open an ear or two. If you like single In For The Kill - and why would you not? - then Elly Jackson’s long-player is piled high with more of the same synth-powered pop. She’s like the Bananarama of her era, but with less of Robert De Niro hanging about street corners.
Matt & Kim - Grand - Out now
Take two hyperactive Brooklyn art students, give them a synth and some drums and get them to channel their energy into ten pert pop songs - et voila! Matt & Kim’s second album Grand kicks off with the hyper Daylight, then pogos into the rest of the album neatly, sounding like OMD on acid. The album’s lightning-strength positivity might leave you reeling, but when the beat is this addictive and wholesome you might as well give in or they’ll set the clowns on you.
Moby - Wait For Me - Out June 29th
This is Moby’s first outing as an independent artist and his aim was to make an album that you’d want to listen to in your lounge. And then perhaps top yourself afterwards. Despite his protestations that Wait For Me is all DIY and very different to anything he’s done in the past, it’s essentially tres Moby: emotive, haunting, melancholy. It doesn’t play well over an office stereo - “What’s this depressing shit?” - but stick in on your headphones and prepare to slash your wrists poetically.
Datarock - Red - Out now
Nothing to do with jiggling Excel spreadsheets as far as we can tell, this Norwegian duo have been in business for nearly ten years and they like to wear tracksuits. A lot. Red is a heady mix of 80s electro flecked with sci-fi grandness and an ode to Molly Ringwald, 80s goddess extraordinaire. Think Kraftwerk, think Talking Heads, think John Hughes movie soundtracks. Now stop thinking and dance like a loon.
Passion Pit - Manners - Out now
We think we still like this, although its high-pitched nature made our dog cry last night. Refused to eat its tea and everything. Smooth electro-pop that pulses with life, this lot have just been announced as support to The Killers tonight at Hyde Park Calling.
(Clare Lydon)
