Three years since surprise hit The English Riviera, Brit electropop outfit Metronomy are back. Only, this time frontman Joseph Mount seems a little sadder than usual.
The band's fourth album, Love Letters, is an old-fashioned note to a sweetheart left behind. This isn't an album documenting the start of arelationship, more a series of almost desperate attempts to save one.
It's not surprising, since the band spent a fair chunk of time travelling the world after their last album captured the collective imagination.
And this time around, Mount's imagination seems to be filtered by the cloudy 1960s. Recorded on analogue, Love Letters delivers a classic feel that's not perfect, more perfectly awkward and quirky.
Opening with the gentleness of The Upsetter, there is a certain softness as Mount chants, "You're really giving me a hard time tonight." But the groove of "old" Metronomy is certainly there in moments. The title track is a driving, jazzy, Motown kind of song, while album standout, I'm Aquarius, is all about the finger clicks and shoop-do-do-ahs.
Among the jangling guitars and hoot-tooting horns scattered around the album, Mount has once again proved himself a clever songwriter.
His cries of far away love and heartbreaking realities like "And now I see how quick you must want to forget/Cause you left the ring I bought you with your cigarettes" are delivered with the wry style Metronomy have become known for, with that retro, heartsick filter.
Verdict:
A groggy, retro reflection on heartbreak and longing.
