(A little while after release, but forgivably so, I hope.)Allo Darlin'- Allo Darlin' (Fortuna Pop!)
It's undeniable: by and large, the individual songs on Allo Darlin's début work brilliantly. The London-based band variously marry Elizabeth Morris' dry, understated wit with sprightly, ukulele-led tunes, or work her wonderfully sharp lyrics into slower, more expansive tracks. As an album, however, Allo Darlin' feels oddly... incomplete. It's puzzling: lead single and album opener Dreaming, for example, occasions favourable comparison to Heavenly's venerable classic C Is The Heavenly Option; Allo Darlin' evoke twee history whilst avoiding the cutesy aspect that can often be cloying- instead choosing to sing about broken hearts, lonely dancefloors and... the night bus. Elsewhere, Morris manages to be uniquely affecting without openly tugging the heartstrings: the way she sings "But I just wanna hold you/ when the music ends/that's all" on If Loneliness Were Art is perfectly judged, as is Let's Go Swimming's tale of Scandinavian lakes and picnics.
The issue is one of pacing: the only true misfire, cooking-as-romance trudge Heartbeat Chilli, kills the momentum gained from the excellent first four tracks, sapping energy from the preceding Kiss Your Lips and impinging upon the following one-two brilliance of If Loneliness Were Art/Woody Allen. Later, the enigmatic, engaging My Heart Is A Drummer loses much of its impact when placed between the sedate Let's Go Swimming and sombre What Will Be Will Be. It's a shame, really: the songs are downright lovely, with frequent enough deviations from the general, upbeat formula to retain one's interest, but the tracklisting hamstrings its potential to be a great album, instead rendering this a merely good collection of songs, rather haphazardly put together.
So: dip in and out, sure- but beware. Allo Darlin' haven't quite arrived just yet. What I don't doubt, however, is that they will- sooner or later.
The issue is one of pacing: the only true misfire, cooking-as-romance trudge Heartbeat Chilli, kills the momentum gained from the excellent first four tracks, sapping energy from the preceding Kiss Your Lips and impinging upon the following one-two brilliance of If Loneliness Were Art/Woody Allen. Later, the enigmatic, engaging My Heart Is A Drummer loses much of its impact when placed between the sedate Let's Go Swimming and sombre What Will Be Will Be. It's a shame, really: the songs are downright lovely, with frequent enough deviations from the general, upbeat formula to retain one's interest, but the tracklisting hamstrings its potential to be a great album, instead rendering this a merely good collection of songs, rather haphazardly put together.
So: dip in and out, sure- but beware. Allo Darlin' haven't quite arrived just yet. What I don't doubt, however, is that they will- sooner or later.
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