Critiques CD: Caribou | Swim

Dan Snaith’s Caribou continues the move towards the dancefl oor sounds initiated on Andorra – with a big dash of Mattias Aguayo-style pop disco and breathy, processed, quasi-spoken vocals (the refuge of all non-singers) leading the way. This is all good. The exception is “Odessa” – an overly busy track that indulges in reviving 80s synth drum rolls and impoverished synthpop tropes. Snaith quickly redeems himself with “Kaili” – a dense, sweet psychedelic bit from leftfield; ‘60s pop maximalism rife with skronk and melody. Then Caribou’s maximalism meets German-style dance floor minimalism on the excellent “Bowls”. More and less vie for space and time, while beats and melodies wrestle for dominance on Swim – Snaith seems to want to try it all on for size. Swim is not quite sure what it wants to be but, in the end, that’s more than okay. In fact, it makes Snaith’s experiments all the more interesting.