Tim: Lots of 1980s inspired sound around at the moment; not so much from the 60s or 70s, though. Here’s a Swedish remedy, and the blurb says that it’s “about a girl who’s waiting and wishing to be with her friends” and is “a soundtrack to hanging with your crew”. Sound good?
Tom: Yep, that is clearly inspired by Motown.
Tim: I pressed play, I think “ooh, it’s like Hairspray all over again”, and although I’m appalled to discover the film of it is now 11 years old, it’s still a great musical. At other times we’ve got elements of Blondie in there, and all in all I am a big fan of this, not least just because it’s different.
Tom: It is, but what hasn’t happened here is any sort of updating for the modern era — yes, the production is a bit cleaner, but this could pretty much have come directly from the 1960s. Nothing wrong with that, but it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity. But you’re right, it is different.
Tim: I don’t want to say ‘new’, because obviously it takes so many cues from half a century ago, but it feels new because it’s unusual. And unusual doesn’t always mean ‘good’, but here…here it does. It turns out they’ve been going a while, so if you’ll excuse I’ll just head off for a rummage around their back catalogue.
Tom: Ooh, matron.