Metronomy - The English Riviera

Julia aus Frankfurt vermisste bei unseren Vorstellungen "The English Riviera". Das ist verständlich, denn Metronomy landeten mit ihrer dritten Platte in den Jahrescharts des NME auf Platz 2 und mit Uncut und Q listeten zwei weitere Magazine deren Album ebenfalls in ihren Bestenlisten (auf den Rängen 3 und 17).

Metronomy - The Look from lorenzo fonda on Vimeo.

Julia aus Frankfurt vermisste bei unseren Vorstellungen "The English Riviera". Das dürfte auch Joseph Mount so gegangen sein, wenn er unseren Blog gefunden und durchsucht hätte. Denn der aus Totnes, Devon in England stammende Mount steckt hinter dem 1999 gegründeten Projekt Metronomy. Er schrieb alle Songs und produzierte auch die Platte, so dass das wechselnde Lineup der Band, äh, auswechselbar scheint.

METRONOMY - She Wants - by JUL & MAT from JUL & MAT on Vimeo.

Julia aus Frankfurt vermisste bei unseren Vorstellungen "The English Riviera". Das dürfte allen eben so gegangen sein, die auf unterkühlten Elektropop, seichten Funk-Pop oder entspannten Soft-Rock zwischen Phoenix, Tahiti 80 und Steely Dan stehen und im Verlauf des Jahres von den catchy Singles "The Look", "She Wants" oder "The Bay" gepackt wurde.

She Wants is newly sentimental, adding a personal touch to the more generalised feelings the songs had previously explored, while Everything Goes My Way has a female lead vocal and the glamour of a John Hughes film from the 1980s. The latter is deliciously summery, but one of the album’s weakest for how uncompelling its structure is.

The lowlights on The English Riviera are thankfully rare. Trouble’s tart vocals head wistfully into a swaying doo-wop beat, with typically smart lyrics such as the cute tautology of "There’s a tear in your eye / And there’s no ‘I’ in tear". And that brings it back to the familiar; Mount’s strengths as a songwriter come from his willingness to show off, however much he may be aware of this.

Love Underlined is incredible, a standout song that hypnotically rises through urgent, insistent and twisted rhythms that start out at odds with each other and eventually come together into a giant four-to-the-floor chorus. The Bay, a theme tune of sorts for the album’s setting, sees the band taking on Daft Punk for energy levels – and more than matching that winsome fervour. "This isn’t Paris, this isn’t London, this isn’t Berlin, this isn’t Hong Kong, this isn’t Tokyo," Mount sings charmingly, glamorising his hometown through summery, lightly roughed-up choruses.

If Nights Out was the soundtrack to an all-hours party that threatened to blow the speakers, The English Riviera is the music in the ears of a restless insomniac. The type of punch Metronomy now pack is differently varied, and instead of relying on catchy melodies, its excitement and originality is now more broadly sourced.
(bbc.co.uk)