im pinning my hopes on this.....

Review - Martina Topley Bird 'The Blue God'
Before we get reviewing, I have to show you something. Don't worry, it's relevant. The picture you see to your right is the promo of Martina Topley Bird's new album, 'The Blue God'. Isn't it lovely? Most companies send you stuff on CDR... not that there's anything wrong with that... but like the music contained on this lovely looking card thing, I hell of a lot of effort has been put into this long player... but has it been worth it?

If you've been reading Electric Roulette for a while, you'll know that we've been banging on about her. Her 'Carnies' single is one of the best pop songs I've heard in years. It's unashamed pop... but it's smart and sophisticated... without being too clever for it's own good. I love it. So, this LP has a lot to live up to...

...is the hype worth it?

From the word go, it's clear that this is no ordinary album. 'Phoenix' is a strange and enchanting ditty which couples the oddball electronics of Aphex at his most mellow (we're talking Flim as opposed to Ambient Works Vol.2) with a ticking, clicking rhythm while MTB goes all come-to-bed-eyes. Dangermouse, everyone's fave producer at the moment, seems to have spun gold throughout the album from Phoenix to Yesterday. I'm aware that last sentence looks like flowery guff, but they're in fact the names of the opening and closing tracks. Anyway, where was I? The album opens sumptuously with exotic Moroccan strings and bubbling synths... there's loads to love.

The LP keeps up the high quality with the fantastic lead single, Carnies, which is pop at it's glorious best. It's catchy, weird, summery, simmering... I could go on, but I won't for fear of fawning. Amongst the stonking pop of Something To Say and April Grove, one track stands out a mile. Baby Blue is a shimmering piece of pop brilliance which somehow manages to couple sixties soul, bossa nova and modern electronics. That might look awful on paper, but on my ears, it works a treat. It's got single written all over it. It's strange and fantastic. Which, in fairness, is a pretty good summary of this album as a whole.

What is refreshing about this album is how Martina's voice is always the main attraction. Dangermouse, clever sod that he is, has managed to weave sublime tapestries of sound, but reeled it in just enough so it never overpowers Topley-Bird's ace vocals and lyrics. There's something about her voice that's almost... jazz. The kicks in her voice remind me of Ella. She doesn't sound like Ella... but the ghost of her is in MTB's breathy wooze.

The sheer volume of reference points in this LP are also great fun. There's jazz, sixties soul, folk, Spector-ish pop, dub, rock... anything Martina and Dangermouse can get their hands on. Again, they manage to take all this without sounding clever-clever. In short, this is a wonderful album that would tick the boxes of pure-pop fans and chin stroking record collectors alike. It's an album that girls will want to dance to and the lads won't mind joining in. That's right. Men. Dancing. I while ago, I dubbed this style of music pop-noir (for Candie Payne if you're wondering) and this is the latest and greatest pop-noir album. Basically, this is the best pop I've heard in years. Everyone should own a copy of this. EVERYONE.

Martina Topley-Bird's 'The Blue God' is released on Independiente on May 12th

at last, a follow up to quixotic, one of my fav albums of all time.

IstenSzek said:

And one of my favorite singers. Can't wait to hear this.

i'm there (even though i wasn't disappointed by Erykah's new joint ).