Released: Januray 26th 2009

Music-fan darlings, Fleet Foxes, re-released ‘Mykonos’ as their latest single. The track was originally part of their ‘Sun Giant’ EP, but it’s since been discontinued, which makes this re-release a grand return of an admirable song.

Robin Pecknold sings with a wistful melancholy about the titular Greek island, the idyllic seat of myth and magic. It can pass for a ballad, with touches of Weezer in its catchy choruses of swaying ‘oh’s’. Listening to the gentle strumming, it’s not hard to picture the bearded Pecknold strolling across the endless, sun-drenched, dusty highway with a suitcase in one hand and a beat-up old acoustic in the other.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.

Released: November 24th 2008

Tick-tocking like a time bomb with metronome-like regularity, the latest single off ‘Midnight Boom’ unwinds with controlled precision. Slinking, elegant and dangerous, VV puts across an urgency in her voice, crooning in perfect sync with Hotel‘s guitar, plucked like he means it. The final throes of the song are thrashed out in a cacophony of ravaged vocals underlaid by Hotel‘s low but far from soothing voice. There’s what sounds like the clack of pots and pans in the background and the cold drum machine clashes on.

Like The Kills‘ electric live show, ‘Tape Song’ exemplifies what the band does best: chaos controlled.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.

Released: October 27th 2008

Lykke Li‘s latest single starts off with spiky, pinging percussion, but it’s a false start because the song is mellow. It could pass for a lullaby, if it wasn’t for the lyrics. At first, it all sounds very romantic, before you take a closer listen and it goes bittersweet, then disturbing.

“I would do it / Push a button, Pull a trigger, Over a mountain, Jump off a cliff / Cause you know baby I love you,” are not the words to describe a healthy relationship. You get the distinct feeling you’re already poised on that cliff, but you can’t help swaying with the rhythm, lulled after all.

The individuality of every Lykke Li song lies in her distinct vocals and here she sounds as tender and tender and wistful as you’ve come to expect. But the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” has never been truer, and this is not just another love song.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.

Released: October 20th 2008

Seattle five-piece Fleet Foxes have been both hot-tipped by the critics and adored by music fans and the adulation is duly deserved, because when they’re good, they’re great.

‘He Doesn’t Know Why,’ the latest single off their album, is placid and heavenly like a particularly heady high filled with rainbows and cavorting unicorns in green meadows. It’s so melodic that you feel like you’ve heard it before because humming along feels quite natural. During the last 30 seconds the song veers off with a strange adage of piano music with an eastern twist, tying the song off neatly and efficiently.

Laid-back, but thoughtful and deeply emotional, Fleet Foxes strike us a bit like Belle & Sebastian, but more 60s folk than Scots twee.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.

Released: January 1st 2007

‘Bluebells’ is the perfect winter single. Wouldn’t it be great to skip these bleak, never-ending days? Patrick Wolf seems to think so: “so leave me sleeping/dreaming only of spring”.

Despite what Patrick has said about moving on to a new musical inspiration, this single could easily slip in to the ‘Wind In The Wires’ era. It’s got the dreamy, bittersweet feel to it that his sophomore record carries like a charm, and yet it’s certainly more hopeful; with fireworks whistling and popping distantly, and a tinkling xylophone over a more conventional and languid piano and guitar melody. It winds up like a jack-in-the-box and instead of popping unexpectedly, firmly unwinds.

Such a pity that ‘Bluebells’ is confined to a digital release, it almost begs for something tangible to complement its full sound.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.

Released: May 8th 2006

The Presets are reminiscent of their label mates Cut Copy – with their techy gadgets and computer wizardry thumping and clicking away in the background and with their sometimes mild-voiced and sometimes scratchy, smoky vocals. On a closer listen, there appears more of an energy to it, it’s more violent and sleazy sounding.

Full of melodic acrobatics and a buzzing back beat, this is a sure dance hall track. Spiky in all the right places, this one takes a little getting used to, if you’re not a fan of the more techno side of dance. But it’ll hook you, all right.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.