Sometimes all I want from a song is a good melody and a few minutes to myself to dance around like an idiot. With the gluttony of records released over the past few years which have been labeled as dance or dance-rock or dance-pop, pick your favorite, there has been a distinct lack of albums which have actually made me want to get up and dance or at the very least, nod my head vigorously in the car. Back in 2008, Cut Copy released In Ghost Colours and with its immediately danceable hooks and kinetic day-glo beats, it made its point with an ample amount of bombast and synthy-goodness. But it seemed like such a definitive statement on the whole genre that a follow-up seemed destined to pale in comparison.
In the following years, artists from different backgrounds broke new ground in deconstructing dance music and brought their own divergent influences to bear on the results. These included Robyn, whose own Body Talk series of EP’s set the high watermark for the perfect combination of dance rhythms and emotionally connective pop structures and LCD Soundsystem who continued to channel the electronic glam rock brilliance of Brian Eno and David Bowie to great effect. These artists brought a resurgence of interest to this quietly partitioned genre of music. But there were still bands finding new and creative ways to develop their own take on this musical meltng pot of a genre.
After In Ghost Colours, Cut Copy went about finding ways to inject a singular personality into a genre which was fast becoming overrun with artists who felt they had something to say just because they downloaded Young Americans and Come Away With ESG. But without the experience to tell the difference between ripping off an influence and paying respectful homage, these artists let the songs become bloated and haphazardly constructed. On Zonoscope, no such deficiencies exist. From the start with "Need You Now", the inherent musical ability of the band allow them to subvert, while also confirming, our expectations as listeners. It's a 6 minute blast of smooth synths and longing vocals made all the more effective by the deceptively simple melody running throughout. Follow-up "Take Me Over" takes a bouncing rhythm that wouldn't have been out of place on Speaking In Tongues and marries it to a calypso tinged guitar and drum line which only accents the varied influences of the band. Album closer "Sun God" delves even further into the bands interest in 80's synth-pop, most notably late-era New Order, and at 15 minutes long can be seen as the culmination of their work to bring their own version of dance music to life. And it seems that their hard work has paid off--I'm dancing like an idiot right now.
Tracklisting:
01. Need You Now (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Take Me Over
03. Where I’m Going
04. Pharaohs & Pyramids
05. Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution
06. Strange Nostalgia for the Future
07. This Is All We’ve Got
08. Alisa
09. Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat
10. Corner of the Sky
11. Sun God
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