★★★
Whenever reviewing a new release from Peter Bjorn And John, there must be a disclaimer: no, there is no ‘whistling song’ on this album.
So everyone who was only interested in that can skip the remainder of this article. As for the rest of you, Breakin’ Point is the band’s seventh album and the follow-up to 2011’s Gimme Some. Unfortunately, opener ‘Dominos’ and ‘Love Is What You Want’ set the album off on the wrong foot, sounding like bad rip-offs of early Hot Chip and The Big Pink, and giving the record an outdated sound before it even gets going. Things do pick up with ‘Do-Si-Do’ and ‘Breakin’ Point’, but largely, the album seems to lack an overall coherency.
This could be due to the flock of heavyweight producers invited to work on this record, all doing things their way. While the majority of Breakin’ Point is made up of enjoyable songs such as ‘In This Town’ and ‘It’s Your Call’, the fact that they don’t work in concert with each other weakens enjoyment of the whole album. There seems to be a constant battle between the band’s musical sensibilities, with no clear winner song to song.
Breakin’ Point isn’t a bad album, but it also isn’t impressive. You’ll get some good listens out of it, but after five years of waiting, it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed.
Peter Bjorn And John’sBreakin’ Pointis out now on Ingrid/Kobalt.
