There's always room for a surging ball of sultry, 60s-inspired Britpop. And by most accounts (this account specifically), UK power trio the Noisettes have a sound that amounts to that and much more. Though their album, the dynamic full length Wild Young Hearts, has already gotten its time to shine across the pond–it was released back in April over there–it's out stateside today. Spearheaded by the jazzy vocals and megawatt presence of vocalist/bassist Shingai Shoniwa, the band rolls through 10 tracks mixing retro-pop and blues energies while delivering a dose of modern urgency.
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The album leads off with their successful English soul-clapping tittle track with traditional back beats that transport you onto a moped buzzing down a London back road on a fall day.
Throughout upbeat tracks like “Don't Upset the Rhythm” and “Never Forget You” two more successful singles on the album, you can imagine Shoniwa bouncing around with guitarist Dan Smith and drummer Jamie Morrison as they churn out an danceable, two step hooks one after the other.
Their sound also works slowed down, case in point, “Atticus,” the album's sparse fifth track, featuring little more than Smith's guitar and Shoniwa's vocals with all the charm of a poppy, jazz infused Björk tune. Love is the central thread that binds most of their songs, but it avoids being overly mushy, sharing the perspective of a confident, though often confused female in search of happiness on her own terms. Likewise, this cocktail of old and new sounds succeeds in being refreshingly original in a genre filled with carbon copies of music from more influential eras gone by.
