Three years of radio silence from indie-pop trio Miike Snow have finally given way to III, a club-friendly simplification of their sound that rests on its heavy-hitting singles.
The first tastes of the new record are without question the best – Heart Is Full is a bombastic barnstormer that will have club floors surging, and a 180-degree flip for the band. With its sampling of soul hits, Mark Ronson-esque horns and big sexy vocal hooks, the only way it could be better is with a guest verse by hip hop outfit Run The Jewels. (This does in fact happen in the form of an El-P and Killer Mike-helmed remix, which closes the album).
Likewise, Genghis Khan is enormously fun despite its reductive lyrics, and is an early contender for video of the year. The trio slide back to old habits in Over And Over, lacing syncopated pianos with tasty guitar licks, and opener My Trigger is big, shallow and fun.
Elsewhere, their new reliance on hip hop aesthetics falls short, as even the pop songwriting skills of Bloodshy & Avant – Miike Snow’s musical core – fail. The glitchy chaos of For You is ruined by its frankly annoying chorus, with vocalist Andrew Wyatt throwing in auto-tune for no reason other than to reference the zeitgeist, and the whole middle of the album feels like a much lazier affair than the singles would imply.
With less indie and more pop on offer, the band’s fanbase may feel somewhat cheated, but the singles at least show the jackalope still has kick.
BY DAVID MOLLOY