aaamusic | On 04, Dec 2013

The Australian duo have released their fourth LP. The album opens up with ‘Free Your Mind’, a mid-tempo, disco friendly tune, that  sounds catchy and easy to listen to. It is not particularly impressive, but good in its own right, like the whole album; Good, but not great.

According to the band, the album was inspired by the summers of love (1967 & 1969). And even though it might sound like an ambitious idea, the truth is that

Taking inspiration from elements from past decades, and making them “modern” it is a concept overly used in all arts. Don’t get me wrong I don’t have anything against the “back to basic” notion, but it feels like it has become a trend, in order to avoid taking real risks on doing something exciting and new.  It looks to me they are being a bit lazy and overly cautious with the sonic and musical risks they take, by choosing to work on something that has already proved it works.

‘We Are Explorers’ and ‘Let Me Show You Love’ are probably the strongest songs in the album, they are good disco-pop tunes, but they do sound pretty much dated and average.

‘Into The Dessert’, ‘Above the City’ and ‘The Waves’ are the middle sections with crazy futuristic speeches, that to be fair the take you out of the monotony of all their other tracks. While ‘Footsteps’, In Memory Capsule and ‘Meet Me In A House Of Love’ are more of the same, I’m afraid.

‘Dark Corner And Mountain Tops’ is lyrically clever, but again it sound dull; too much reverb and too much psychedelic hippie paraphernalia. It doesn’t  really suit  a band that for me should  cut the pretensions “concept album” idea and go back to what they know best, which is writing great dance tunes.

As a conclusion the whole album sound too homogeneous and its name free you mind leaves me hanging on a contradiction.

★★★★★

Laura Carvajalino