Yeasayer
‘Odd Blood’
(Mute)

Yeasayer’s 2007 debut might not have reached the all-conquering, Skins-soundtracking ubiquity of their Brooklyn buddies MGMT, but their second record sure sets a benchmark Andrew Van Wyngarden and The Other One’ll struggle to match when they return later this year – ‘Odd Blood’ is a thrillingly inventive, brilliantly ambitious album. It’s pop music with an IQ but, crucially, never too clever for its own good. The robotic judder of opener ‘The Children’ might suggest ‘Odd Blood’ is going to be just as apocalyptically grimy a listen as ‘All Hour Cymbals’ but it couldn’t be more of a wrongfoot; what follows is vibrantly relentless euphoria with hooks as hypnotic as Derren Brown; ‘Ambling Alp’ begins with jilted, mechanic judders but soon blossoms into an afrobeat-pop blast, ‘Madder Red’ marries Arcade Fire choral bluster to taut, rhythmical grooves, whilst ‘I Remember’ sounds like an astronaut’s love song, cosmic swirls enveloping Chris Keating’s forlorn vocals. It’s ‘O.N.E’, an adrenaline-veined slice of Peter Gabriel future-pop, that’s the centerpiece, though, its prurient kinetic bounce summing up ‘Odd Blood’’s triumph best – it’s a record that’s hard to keep up with and even harder to ignore. A monumental return.

Niall Doherty