Out yesterday in the UK and today in US, this album on Kompakt is one I’ve been looking forward to taking a listen to for a while now. Icelandic band Gus Gus and their Arabian Horse record were what initially highlighted the Kompakt label to me after a long time in the electronic music wilderness.
Mexico is available on 180 g audiophile vinyl for those that like that kind of thing as well as CD.
From the first few bars of the opening track “Obnoxiously Sexual” (great title that!) it’s clear that this is going to be a very good record indeed. Throughout Mexico is really nicely produced and genre-wise falls into the electronic pop folder I guess. It borrows elements from synth-pop, bits of Euro-trance and others but what is a constant is that the tunes on Mexico are proper songs with proper melodies, lyrics (apart from the title track which is the only instrumental) and song structure.
The opening track, as mentioned, is a killer but Mexico doesn’t rest on its laurels and each and every track builds the album into a fabulously coherent listen. Crossfade, which was released as a bit of a teaser for the album, ups the tempo just a little bit but there’s still that feeling that you are listening to proper songs written with intelligence and knowledge.
Throughout Mexico you’ve got interesting little twists and turns and “interesting” noises in the mix that really lift it from a very good album to a really superb record.
The tune “Airwaves” kicks off with the feel that it’s gonna launch into a huge club anthem and I’m sure it will get dropped by a good number of big name Djs in the coming months.
“God Application” has gorgeous strings before breaking into an electro-style groove that is faintly familiar.
It’s difficult to pull together a coherent overview for a record that you find yourself just wanting to kick back and enjoy and aI really did enjoy Mexico very very much and I’m pretty certain it will do very well for the band in the coming weeks and months…and with good justification.