Nelson-based three-piece Minuit have long been proponents of some of the most energetic electro-pop the South Pacific has to offer and with their fourth LP they're better than ever. They're more Pacific-influenced, more percussive, and more carefree than previous outings, which gives the whole album a certain sparkle and brilliance, like a sun-soaked ocean vista, but the pulsating intensity remains.
Where they've formerly been fairly electronic-based, this time around beat-makers Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre have woven in an array of exotic percussion around Ruth Carr's seductive vocals, employing crisp gamelan, and tribal island drumming, along with layers of brass, some swampy slide guitar, and even a harmonica. Found sounds are included too - you can hear the voices of kids from a Haitian orphanage on Islands, and you'll get aural glimpses of raindrops on a tin roof or waves lapping at a boat.
Carr started writing much of the album as she worked in Rarotonga, and somehow there's a ray of sunshine even on the more melancholy tracks like Good Ol' Days or heavy Ghost, and palpable joy on the upbeat title track and Book of the Dead.
Fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will love mischievous, indignant guitar driven track The Love That Won't Shut Up, and whirling Stories For Boys, which was written several years ago, but has just as much relevance to an inwardly crumbling society in 2013.
Stars: 4/5
Verdict: More catchy and powerful than ever
Click here to buy a copy of Last Night You Saw This Band by Minuit
