★★★★
There can’t be many songs about the identity crisis of a small horse.
“Look at my hair, see how I run,” sings guest vocalist and former Nouvelle Vague singer Mélanie Pain on the second track of Coda’s new album. “Am I a pony? Or a baby giraffe?”
Whatever creature Pain really is, there’s no doubt that Golden Times is a strange animal. It is Coda’s first release in a decade, and the first time they’ve utilised vocalists. That in itself is akin to a tiger growing wings, and the effect is not unlike encountering one.
The opening title track sneaks up on you, its eerie acoustic strings and dreamy whispered vocals courtesy of Royce Doherty making way for a woozy electro synth hook. ‘7am’, another Doherty number, makes you think it’s falling asleep before it leaps, clawing out with flurries of Eastern strings and wails.
The classically trained Coda channel the likes of Portishead, Goldfrapp and Serge Gainsbourg, drawing on anything that grabs their ears. From downbeat beginnings, it all ends on the edgy jazz of ‘You Won Me Over’ featuring Jane Tyrrell, and the pure pop of ‘Summer Pop’.
It’s intricate, interesting, bold and beautiful. Golden Times isn’t a pony but a galloping unicorn.
Coda’sGolden Timesis out now on Silent Recordings.
