Metronomy - The English Riviera

Metronomy's The English Riviera seems to be swiftly becoming one of those 'buzz' albums that everyone is talking about as newspapers and blogs around the country sing its praises. But in this instance, that praise is entirely justified.

Take single The Look for example, with its New Order-esque basslines. It's full of trippy, retro synthesizer riffs that could be straight out of Blade Runner soundtrack. Meanwhile, Corinne is like early Depeche Mode or OMD - a Just Can't Get Enough for the 21st century. There's even some funky Spandau Ballet guitar in there too. From start to end this album reads like a kind of 80s who's who compendium of influences; the trademark elements of so many bands melded into a sound that is carefree, joyous and almost childlike.

The real skill of Metronomy though comes in the fact that throughout all these touchstones of influence, it is always the band's own sound that remains most prevalent. Every song comes under their own distinct stamp. Within that individual stamp comes a tranquility, a funky vibe conjured up from rubbery basslines like those on laid-back We Broke Free. As the track slowly slides along, flowing and wave-like, guitar is worked in subtly - becoming part of the track instead of distracting from it.

The overall tropical summer feel that surrounds the whole album is at its strongest on Everything Goes My Way, with added female vocals mixing things up a bit. She Wants has more of the feel of a Duran Duran album track - a rustling, clicky beat driving a sense of low menace while guitar lines stab away.

Standing opposed to this, Trouble has the delicate kind of guitar work that made the Foals' Total Life Forever such a critical darling. Working in jazzy influences too the sunshine is almost palpable here. Indeed, the Foals album is the closest comparison to The English Riviera - there's a similar vision in the kind of world the band is attempting to create, and with so many different layers of sound going on here, it's a vastly involving world.

It's on tracks like The Bay where the album achieves what it sets out to do best - funky basslines and quirky lyrics reaching a crescendo in high powered choruses that fade away to twitching, minimal verses. There's a restless energy here, that feeling of when you've had a couple of beers and have that irresistible urge to dance. And it's important not to forget that on many levels this is fundamentally a dance album. Maybe not in the traditional sense of what that entials, but the music is most definitely danceable - and seeing it in that aspect gives it a whole extra dimension.

Loving Arm is full of Doctor Who-esque swirling synthesizers that sound so retro they're practically prehistoric - the track is full of primeval charm, as if it's some kind of fossil dug up on the shores of a windswept beach. Here, as with so much of the album, the band strikes the perfect equilibrium between indie, pop and dance. That sense of menace returns, but it's a menace that goes hand in hand with a bewitching beauty. It's like the old fairy tales, the danger that you can't help but fall for.

Joe Mount's vocals seem at complete ease throughout the album; he feels comfortable in his own skin, utterly confident in the message and sound he wants to convey. That's what The English Riviera is all about, a fantasy land existing exactly to his specifications; a fantasy land that for a while, we are invited into too.

The English Riviera is out to download now.