Inside Nokia Music

Just in case you, dear reader, are not as cool as me and have no idea who the hell Yeasayer are I will sum them up quickly for you: an experimental, eclectic Brooklyn based trio who chuck out a variety of pop, rock, world, folk, dub in one genre merging delicious assault on your ear canal.
And they’re really very trendy, look:

Trendies? Moi? - Back in the four-piece days

The follow up to 2007’s phenomenal All Hour Cymbals, Odd Blood dropped on Monday and I was very, very excited about this. Imagine my horror then, when the first track made me want to do a little sick in my mouth. It’s horrible, just horrible. I don’t get or appreciate tracks that have 1. Annoying vocals 2. Don’t ‘go anywhere’ 3. Just annoy the hell out me the whole way through. I persevered though, kept the vom down, and went on to track two. And thank goodness I did! ‘Ambling Amp’ – the first single from the album – is lush; with a retro 80’s feel and some tasty afro/electro beats and falsetto loops.

The stand out song at the moment for me (bound to change with every fluctuation in my mood) is ‘O.N.E’, a song with so many layers – almost Caribbean at the core – that is bound to cheer up anyone faced with a gloomy, grey February day.

Brief descriptions of other tracks highlight the true eclectic breadth of this album; the synthy romantic ‘I Remember’ could well be the theme tune of some trippy 70s kids show, ‘Strange Reunions’ contains some dubby sitars; then there’s the head bopping hecticness of ‘Rome’ and the poppy ‘Mondegreen’ complete with a hip hand clap or two.

Overall, despite the oddball weirdness expected from Yeasayer, the sound of this album is much cleaner and therefore more accessible than it’s highly acclaimed predecessor. Together with clear, easy lyrics which compliment the complexity of the arrangements and timings going on in the background, the poppy vibe and danceability factor throughout leads me to give Odd Blood a huge thumbs up. There’s definitely something on here for everyone so why not go have a listen and see what you think.

UK gig listings in case it turns out you love them as much as I do are as follows:

16th Feb @ O2 Academy Birmingham
17th Feb @ Oran Mor, Glasgow
20th Feb @ Speakeasy, Belfast
21st Feb @ Manchester University
22nd Feb @ The Faversham, Leeds
23rd Feb @ Heaven, London
25th Feb @ Thekla, Bristol
26th Feb @ Brighton Digital
26th May @ KOKO, London