★★½
Three years of radio silence from indie-pop trio Miike Snow have finally given way toIII, 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. Oh hey, they close the album.
Likewise, ‘Genghis Khan’ is enormously fun despite its reductive lyrics. The trio slide back to old habits in ‘Over And Over’, lacing syncopated pianos with tasty guitar licks, and opener ‘My Trigger’ is 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 U’ is ruined by its frankly annoying chorus, with vocalist Andrew Wyatt throwing in Auto-Tune for no reason other than to reference the zeitgeist.
With less indie and more pop on offer, both fan bases may feel somewhat cheated, but the singles at least show the jackalope still has kick.
