Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2009, Qupperneq 29

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Centerhotels_254x95_grapevine09.pdf 7/1/09 11:51:11 AM
Now on their fifth album, múm have
once again gone further into acoustic
territory with Sing Along To Songs You
Don't Know. With its predecessor, Go
Go Smear The Poison Ivy, múm left
atmosphere alone and delved further
into the more luminous moments
in campfire sing-a-long, producing
songs that could be taken at face
value with only an acoustic guitar
as accompaniment. Not to say what
we have here doesn’t experiment in
refrigerated blips or synth-infused
bleeps, but as múm get older, it feels
the auxiliary sounds diminish, leaving
their pop more bare. Naked, even.
And herein results in an album that
embodies its moniker to the core. This
is a set of songs that try to be open,
inclusive and plaintive, a collection
of participatory ditties, so to speak.
With opener ‘If I Were A Fish,’ jilted
guitar plucks meander around lilting
vocals filled with questions, almost
inviting the listener in immediately to
answer them. Seashell percussion and
trumpets peer in and out, but here the
focus is the words, the invitation. múm
want you back, that's for sure.
And so it goes, moving forward
through some deliberately acoustic
numbers, such as the gorgeous
'Húllabbalabbalúú', interspersed
with sporadic oddball antics, like the
cowbell heavy 'The Smell Of Today Is
Sweet Like Breast Milk In The Wind'.
This one aside, as a collection it's less
experimental, and repeated listens
suppose that this was intentional. Take
the quiet but affecting closer, 'The Last
Shapes Of Never'. Historically, this
juxtaposes the band's canon, as it's a
simple strum buttressed with a choir,
almost as if they are imitating a church
service. It stays plaintive, and in
such it succeeds. It's quiet, affecting,
mature and sombre pop. They do want
us to sing along, of course. -shaIN
shapIro
The XX are the latest UK indie
sensations coming from south London.
Barely out of their teens, at first sight
they look as if they couldn’t fight their
way out of a shopping bag. And their
debut album is full of songs about
longing, cloying emotion and foppy
haired sex. This is my kryptonite and it
usually brings me out in a rash.
So why am I still listening to it
after a week? Simply because of the
tunes. The XX have an incredibly
bleak, sparse sound (staccato plucked
guitars, quiet drums, breathed vocals).
And they also add a healthy dose of
ambient electro, R&B drum patterns
and bass lines to their mix. Even the
track “Crystallised” sounds like a
slowed down “Wicked Game” by Chris
Isaak.
While they aren’t a party on type
band, they are perfect for when your
suffering that Sunday comedown, or
when Iceland has one of those typical
múm the XX
Sing Along to the Songs You
Don't Know (2009)
XX (2009)
mumtheband
múm go acoustic and lose the
refrigerated sounds. This is a
good thing.
thexx
Look past the indie posturing and
listen to the lovely sounds they
make....
+ +
music | Album Reviews
the reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2009
17
“It stays plaintive, and
in such it succeeds. It's
quiet, affecting, mature
and sombre pop. They do
want us to sing along, of
course.”