The Ephemeric

Genre Synthpop
Label Moshi Moshi
Producer Thom Monahan



This New York girl band of synthpoppers have had a decent following for a couple of years and three studio albums now, but are yet to really break into the mainstream. That may be about to change now.

Not to be sexist, but it is very rare these days to see female musicians who are actually good. Usually they opt for the much easier and far more lucrative path of stripping half naked and singing ridiculous, lowest common denominator, commercially produced crap. Occasionally, however, you find a band of ladies who actually put the music first, and Au Revoir Simone is one of those bands.

Still Night, Still Light has that quality that most albums lack, but the best ones have, a consistently high quality throughout. It's not that the band have done anything especially different to their old albums here, it's just that it's better. The production values are high, and the tracks manage to reach a wide variety of tones whilst still maintaining the band's signature sound, ie soft vocals, rich harmonies and warm, fuzzy synths.

The quality is consistently high in this album, from the uplifting groove of Shadows to the disco funk of Another Likely Story, from the epic electrostorm of Only You Can Make You Happy to the artful simplicity of Take Me As I Am, and from the uptempo body mover of Anywhere You Looked to the powerfully gloomy Organized Scenery.

These six songs are the highlights, but it does a disservice to the rest of the album which is still of a high quality.

This album is elegantly introspective and carries a sweet melody throughout that will charm most listeners. Aside from being Au Revoir Simone's best album, this is one of the better albums of the year.


Must Listen:
Shadows


Take Me As I Am (Live)


Another Likely Story


Anywhere you looked