The English Riviera - Metronomy

As the sound of seagulls and soothing violins provide a fitting 37 second introduction to an equally smooth and well produced album, it's obvious that Metronomy have grown up since Nights Out (2008) and have ditched the heavily synth featured songs for a more chilled out feel. Unmistakably, on first listen, I was impressed with new band member Anna Prior's singing on Everything Goes My Way until it was revealed in the album booklet that in fact Roxanne Clifford from Veronica Falls provided the vocals. her sultry, sexy tone makes the song a clear favourite and the minimal use of instruments makes her voice stand out more. While quietly edging away from his trademark sound, Joe Mount has made a smooth transition between albums and has gone from strengh to strengh. He proves that a band can change their sound without being criticised for being too different. Anna Prior and Gbenga Adelakan have already comfortably settled into the band and at a recent Rough Trade in store, all band members seemed very close and turned around to each other to make eye contact every so often. Joe Mount is a multi-talented performing artist and without finding out how much work he does, you could be fooled that the tasks are shared out equally when Joe Mount plays 90% of the instruments and sings on most songs. An incredibly sleek and sexy third album from Metronomy, the album is almost fautless and you'l be hard pressed to find a person who won't enjoy listening to The English Riviera while sitting by the seaside this summer.