Warm summer nights. That's what we want. Time to relax and maybe dance. But for that we need music. Something melodic but with a bit of character. Something like this album from Tiger Tiger, a duo from Bologna, Italy.
There are many sonic confections here, all dusted with a sugary coating of continental style. Like the best patisseries, each song is created with care and affection. From the upmarket cabaret meets jazz of "Je T'Aime" to the more conventional indie pop of "First Woman on the Moon" (rather more likely than a domesticated woman these days…), the value is in the detail. Arranged with imagination, Tiger Tiger represent what quality pop music should be about. None of that repetitive power chords and staring at your shoes here. In fact you can just see them running through the parks and art galleries of your better cities singing their happy little ditties. However, the music is not so light that it would fly away in the breeze as "Cats Eat Birds" adds weight with lyrics like "I don't want to see reality, its too much…". The best track to our ears was the downright sparky "Before You Go" that made a pretty damn good effort at raising the roof.
There are a quite a few other practitioners of this sound out there in the marketplace - like Glasgow's Ten to Five Project, for example - but Tiger Tiger have done very well here in making 10 tracks of varied but uplifting indie pop and that's just what you need at this time of year. In fact, I am already looking forward to the next slice.
Available from My Honey Records.