Moonbabies

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

There was a time when it felt like Moonbabies could save me. That, or at least renew my faith in carefully crafted, studio-conscious pop. The song was "Forever Changes Nothing Now" off of the Standing on the Roof/ Filtering the Daylight EP, a piece of heartbreak that was both supremely confident and supremely worth getting excited over. It was too much to ask of them, I know, so it's not their fault that I went a little cold in the time between that release and this, their second full-length. There are just too many would-be studio maestros propped up on their own self-importance muddying the water and that's made it tough to get turned on when something really fresh comes along. Deep down, though, I know that's not really being honest, because the truth is that it's impossible not to be turned on when you come across the real thing. That's how it was, that sense of pure elevation, when I first played "Forever Changes Nothing Now", and though the reaction isn't exactly the same with the entirety of The Orange Billboard, there are moments of undeniable excitement that make it a considerably engaging listen.

Proving that they're still relentlessly ambitious, Ola Frick and Carina Johansson keep moving forward towards the creation of the great pop album that they practically convince you is a foregone conclusion for them. It's a heavy burden -- and certainly not automatic -- but the pair comes across as lifers with the talent and nerve to persevere. Already fairly well known in Sweden, their standing in America figures to grow as this album winds its way around college radio. They wrote, recorded, and mixed it with just a few additional performers (the two played a wide variety of instruments and got help only on some of the drums, strings, and a little bass). Because they spent so much time on their own in the studio, things can't help but be a bit self-indulgent (but only so far as the recording itself goes, never the singing or playing) and this might be harder to stomach if you didn't feel that it's adding up to something bigger. Their skill in the studio is one of the things that will ultimately separate them from lesser bands with similar pop ambitions -- that and, what is ultimately the more important of the two, their seemingly easy knack for melodies that are readily familiar and that stay with you. As a result, it's easy to forgive them if they fall into the seductive trap of helping themselves a bit too much to studio trickery. The hope is that by overdoing it at points, they'll learn for themselves what works and what doesn't.

The album's songwriting is more clearly focused than on June and Novas and they wander considerably less musically. "Crime O' the Moon" is about as glorious of a pure pop song as you're likely to find all year. Even if its ultimate insight is just that "We're here to fall", you can't give yourself over to it's melody (a revved-up "Our House"?) and walk away thinking that they really believe that, especially when just two lines earlier Frick sings, "All the docs and the pros can't make you stronger than I am". He's right, and when Frick and Johansson really flex their muscles they can leave you breathless. They bounce around between dance floor singles ("Sun A.M."), bedroom laments ("Summer Kids Go", "You Know How it Is", and "Over My Head"), and psych noodles ("Jets" and "The Orange Billboard") and tie them all together under their increasingly unique flag of dream pop.

At almost 50 minutes, the album wouldn't really have suffered if it was shorter by a song or two, with the mid-album instrumental "Jets" sticking out as the most recklessly expendable. Getting to the point may not always be the band's strongest point (over half of the songs are well over four minutes) but their central thesis is solid and their skills sturdy. They layer on the tracks to the point that their songs should be bloated and bursting, but instead they just keep stretching to accommodate the piles of instrumentation being thrown at them. Amazingly, they make it all fit. Their singing and arranging skills are more than strong enough to put the songs across with fewer flourishes, but it's still exciting to listen to their imaginations running wild. The best songs here ("Summer Kids Go", "Crime O' the Moon", bits of "The Orange Billboard", "Forever Changes Nothing Now") make good on the warmth promised by the melodies. Moonbabies are busily cutting out their own space from the dream pop fabric and the closer that they get to Earth the more snuggly they wrap you up in it. If the field is a bit crowded and the glut sometimes enough to make you close your ears, they make pricking them up and paying attention a worthwhile chance to take.

— 9 June 2004
- Jon Langmead

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: 4/5

The ultimate shot of random procedure"
It's the fifth line on The Orange Billboard's first track, "Fieldtrip USA" and could probably suffice as an adequate album review. The 'random procedure' they speak of could certainly describe the music on this album, but only half baked. It's random to the ear because this is not the same formula re-done in different keys over and over ad-nauseam, this is passing fireworks over three different towns on your way home from grandma's. Things are just happening in every direction on this record and all of them seem inherently good and important to The Moonbabies big, bright picture.

One guy, one girl, no stripes. If this is what pop music is like over in Sweden, then I have got a considerable amount of swimming ahead of me. The team of Carina Johansson and Ola Frick make music that demands specific attention to each individual speaker in the sound system, whether it be two, four, or more. Their placement of grooves and spacey sounds creates the perfect sonic landscape for their voices, guitars, and toys to roam and frolic. There is a long highway winding through this album that has acoustic guitars and piano keys flashing its their headlights at the electric guitars and effects that are whizzing by in the opposite lane. Somehow, both end up in the same place. From song to song, the musical highlights check in from a new source every time.

At times, these two Moonbabies trade pieces of verse or chorus, other times one handles each, and sometimes they share entire songs together, each voice a supreme compliment of the other. Johansson's voice has the unsteady confidence of an Aimee Mann, while Ola Frick is able to move up and down the charts as needed, hitting the low end of harmonies and soaring high (quite beautifully in a ‘just about to crackle’ kind of way) on tunes like "Wyomi" and the almost haunting "Over My Head". Vocally, each song is just as diverse as the collection is musically, the result is a very fresh sound that I could certainly say reminds me of some people, but not entirely, more like the energy matches that of this or that artist. The sounds sit all alone.

This album makes the listener feel right at home in a number of ways, whether it be the Casio toy keyboard sounds found on several tracks and used wonderfully on the instrumental "Jets" or the happy to be here, happy to be alive diction of "Crime O' The Moon' despite the grim (in a ‘some things don’t change even after you die, so make the best of it’ sort of way) lyrics. The Orange Billboard has brought summer to my winter days and made me want to be in the bar where:

We were dancing to 'Like A Hurricane'

You were bouncing, There was always someone to follow

I like to be there Just for a little while

There is a distinct mixing of sounds and influences coming together in Johansson and Frick’s punchbowl, everything blends and meshes perfectly and all of their experimentation is well worth the risk. This is in no means “safe” music. This is not something everyone will be able to listen to and like or even appreciate right off the bat. It’s much like the big painting in the museum that everyone approaches head on and cannot help but turn their head sideways for fear that the curator has hung it incorrectly.

A song like “Slowmono” is a small window into the minds behind the paintbrush. The beginning is such a far stretch from the end, but everything falls into place as the track builds and builds upon itself changing over from one form into the next. All of the pieces fit together, but it takes the bridge built by its conductors to show us how so.

The liner notes show a big red label just waiting to be affixed to vinyl and displays the track listing broken down into sides A and B. I can definitely see different things happening with the tracks that would be bunched together to comprise each side. While “Over My Head” is a little darker and a little slower, it has its slow counterpart on the would be B side with “Wyomi”. Aside from that detractor (and I use that word only in illustrating my point, not categorizing any of these songs), the A side is full of the more happy go lucky tunes musically. Most of the lyrics throughout the whole album touch base beyond the bright colors found in the music though, it’s the approach that is warm and fuzzy. But tracks like “Field Trip USA”, “Sun A.M.”, and “Crime O ‘The Moon” have a vibrant spirit running through them. While all of these songs experiment with a mixture of sounds and instruments, the first-siders have nothing on audio conglomerates “Slowmono” and the records longest tune, title track, “The Orange Billboard”. The first two B side tracks, “Summer Kids Go” and “Forever Changes Everything Now” are reminiscent of side A’s wistful glory and at the same time could segue into some of the harder songs on the album if those harder songs didn’t segue into themselves already. Don’t know what I mean? A song segueing into itself? Give it a spin, you’ll see.

One of the best attributes of this album is the fact that all of these songs are done so well that you may find yourself favoring certain ones for the first few listens and then getting stuck on a different grouping after a couple more listens. The back to back “Summer Kids Go” and “Forever Changes Everything Now” did not necessarily grab my attention right off of the bat, but after favoring others from the start, these two tunes demanded my attention. They fall in place perfectly with the flow of the album as they lead to the left turn that the album takes on its closing numbers.

All of the songs on The Orange Billboard are arranged greatly. The space in between the two slow songs allows for a lot to travel through one’s mind getting from one side to the other. The heavier guitars are placed together with a down tempo tune in between to give the end of the album a certain feel and flow going into, “You Know How It Is,” the final tune. An interesting note about the album and its tracks is the use of blending and extended silence between them. The tracks that would complete side A run into each other so much so, that the guitar of one track runs right into the chords of the next at some points. The segue from “Sun A.M.” to “Over My Head” is very interesting and worth a slot under the microscope. In fact, all of the side A segues are impressive and will benefit a listener with an extended volume knob or set of headphones. Side B is a little more “classic” as sounds from one song stop on a dime right before another starts, or use the fade and silence routine. A very noticeable long silence sets the sides apart as “Jets” ends and “Summer Kids Go” waits to begin.

Another great note about The Moonbabies, they wrote all of the music and lyrics, engineered, mixed, and produced The Orange Billboard themselves. I really give it up to musicians who take that much control over their music, because it seems to shows that their vision goes far beyond just writing songs in a room. They know how to shape the vast cavern that of silence into something that deserves the audiences’ attention as much as a good film would. Many great musicians write meaningful music and lyrics but get a big boost up the stairs by producers with a superb awareness of studio possibilities and wizardry. When the musicians have that knowledge on their hands, I think the door of possibility opens wider and wider. The Moonbabies could take that door right off the hinges not just because they have showed the ability, but they seem to be fearless as well.

Someday, I want to step outside of my front door into The Moonbabies world. I don't want to know when; I'd rather relish the surprise. Instead of hitting the sidewalk and passing the old graveyard before I get to McDonald's, Taco Bell, 7-11, and Dairy Queen, I want to step into The Orange Billboard. It will take me way up high only to review and handle the lows, but when I go spinning and twirling back to the good times, I'll know the bright spots are worth all of the dark. Realistically, I don't know that we live in a place where The Moonbabies could be on the radio everyday or where we could see a video like Colony's work on "Over My Head" at any decent waking hour. That's not a bad thing though, the people who should hear The OrangeBillboard will hear it -- it will find them.
- Joel Armato

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

Musically, The Orange Billboard is nearly flawless. Think Trembling Blue Stars with less '80s keyboard cheese, or Low collaborating with New Order and Yo La Tengo. The band knows their way around a bittersweet melody. You probably won't find catchier, more danceable indie-pop than the first four tracks on this album.

Lyrically, things start to get more interesting. Moonbabies hail from Sweden and have a decidedly skewed take on English grammar and metaphorical imagery. Take, for example, the lyrics from "Over My Head": "And you will need / another meal of my sour cream." Or, "You can't smell the dirt until they crap on your lawn" from "Fieldtrip USA." Slightly bizarre stuff to place in a broken-hearted context, but it's also a refreshing digression from the overly reiterated Dashboard route.
- Aaron Shaul

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

Doing little to disprove the theory that Sweden pumps chemicals into their drinking water to encourage the creation of pop hooks, MOONBABIES return to record stores with 'The Orange Billboard', following up their 2000 debut 'June and Novas'.

Though this second effort lacks a damn-that-kicked-my-ass opening track like it's predecessor ('I'm Insane But So Are you' being the ass-kicker in question), the disc as a whole shows the band easing into a more focused sound, with 'Crime O' the Moon' as brilliant a pop concoction as anything the band's ever recorded. The harmonies and alternating male/female lead vocals of Ola Frick and Carina Johansson are still the group's signature. 'The Orange Billboard' shows Moonbabies carving their own unique niche in Swedish pop: a little acoustic, a little electronic and rather a lot of strong material to work with. - Will Harris

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: 4/5

Will the indie pop melody well ever run dry? Maybe, but in the meantime Moonbabies have busted the pipeline, and it's overflowing in their basement. Harmony, warm melody, and clever studio trickery color every inch of The Orange Billboard, Ola Frick and Carina Johansson's second full-length; its songs seem stung by a pinpoint of heat and filtered through a long prism, their elementary pop structure and crackling electronica jumbled into a dizzy rainbow of bewildering detachment. Are these people from Sweden or some kind of super-hip Candy Land? The verses of "Fieldtrip USA" run on a gentle acoustic guitar figure and what sounds like a sound effect from the Windows operating system; the image blisters, snaps, and blurs before downshifting Notwist-like into a pulsating indie rock bass groove. "Sun A.M." is even better, a blissfully perfect synthesis of sun-kissed twee and mouse-click bedroom electronica. "I become you," Frick sings in his cracked, plaintive falsetto. "Just wait and see us/Nine years from here/And I follow you." And what's senseless in print is butterflies-inducing genius in the studio. "Crime o' the Moon" bounces along on a jaunty organ and xylophone chimes, inserting snippets of strings in a 21st century rebroadcast of Beatles psychedelia, while the instrumental "Jet" is a whirring and buzzing IDM cute-bot. (Just for kicks, Moonbabies detonate an airburst of electric guitar squelch over the center of the song's music-box-in-reverse sweetness.) Digital burbles and hisses slowly overtake the lush harmonies and layered acoustics of "Forever Changes Everything Now," suggesting the subtle remixing of Kings of Convenience's Versus album, and the title track cinches Orange Billboard's fluttery loose ends of hushed harmony and polite pop to a kitchen sink outro of random noise bursts and announcements. By its end, Moonbabies' sophomore outing has caused a slight body ache, the sweaty but not altogether unpleasant feeling of napping under too many blankets. Indie pop has relied happily on the hug'n'kiss of melody and charm for plenty a year, and the formula has yet to fail. Still, it's heartening to find some curious souls willing to plug that sweet sentiment into greater stylistic wanderlust and groovy electronic adventurism.
- Johnny Loftus

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

From all of Scandinavia, how come only Sweden and Iceland left lasting impressions on music culture in the United States (and indeed the world)? How come we don’t hear more about the next white-hot Norwegian garage-rock band, perhaps called the Stings (or Division of Lydia Lunch), or the new steamy Teen Pop single from Denmark (“Let’s Dansk”)? For whatever reason, those aren’t realities. While their Scandinavian counterparts are clearly deficient, we can always look to Iceland and Sweden to enlighten us with a new abstract pop or “next big thing” project.

The difference between the male/female Swedish duo Moonbabies and many of the foreign groups to come before them is that this group infiltrated the American market without a marketing agenda and thus without a whisper of hype. The group needn’t worry though, the music speaks for itself, much better than scores of banner ads, and fashion shoots ever could. Orange Billboard is consistently and continually excellent, and the fact that the group sprang out of relative anonymity makes it even more unexpected and compelling.

The Orange Billboard begins sneakily and deceptively. The first minute of the album opener, “Field Trip USA,” sounds somewhat like the imaginary group Hooray For Everything! from The Simpsons. The album has some doses of sugary pop, but its emotional and musical range is entirely much more diverse. There are the breathy summer melodies of “Sun AM,” the minimalist and somber piano number “Over My Head,” the experimental, instrumental laptop pop of “Jets,” and the lush and hypnotic “Forever Changes Everything Now” just to name a few.

The interplay of Carina Johansson’s silky lull and Ola Frick’s nearly whispered delivery featured on nearly every track infinitely enhances the album’s moody textures. While the quality of the vocals is great, the album’s most stellar accomplishment is its ability to introduce diverse songs while still maintaining a coherent flow and vibe. Though you could pluck a few tracks as standouts, the 11 songs of Orange Billboard compliment each other very well, even as a shimmering sunny pop song sits next to one with a more avant-garde fuzzed out crunch.

All this makes the relative unknowns a classic underdog case, and Orange Billboard becomes the new “little album that could.” In a perfect world, more listeners would catch onto Moonbabies’ brilliance. They’ve got the talent. Now they need just a little luck. If it catches on and you do see the duo strutting the newest fashions in a spread for some big music rag, don’t say you weren’t warned.
- Dan Williams

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: 9/10

It's Brad's fault that I like this album. When he first put it on, I dismissively said, "Sounds Swedish," and went back to doing whatever it was that I was doing. It was meant as more of an insult than a compliment, since I was thinking of ABBA at the time. So even when Brad discerned that the Moonbabies are, in fact, Swedish, I didn't really give it a second thought.

A couple days later, we're on our way to class and Brad says something like, "I'm really starting to like this album." I didn't even know what it was, since I'm usually too busy thinking my own thoughts to notice what he puts in the c.d. player. (After all, he's the musician and I'm the writer. When he has nothing else to do, he listens; when I have nothing else to do, I think.) But I decided it was unfair to compare it to ABBA and then went back to my own thoughts. Several more days later and he's playing it while we do homework. He's probably played it a few times since the moment in the car, but for some reason, I notice it and ask what it is, thinking that it's catchy and intriguing. This is a common scenario, mind you. If I think of all of my favorite bands, I thought they were a bit crap at first, but for some reason either was forced or chose to give them a second chance and realized how good they were.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to give Moonbabies a second chance. Yes, they often sound like music for a Wrigley's gum commercial at first (you know, the one with all the creepy identical twins), but they have more substance than that. The more I learn about Swedes, the more I learn that one should never take them at face value; there is always more to them than you see, or hear, at first. Especially with the Moonbabies, the initial impression I got of charming simplicity gave way to curiosity of what they were really trying to convey once I listened to the album more.

For one, the music itself sounds really cheery at first but actually hides complex layers of irony. You simultaneously want to be part of this magical musical world they're creating and wonder what unheard-of monsters are waiting there. It's like that moment when you first realize you are losing your innocence. It's poignant; sad in some way but fulfilling in another, since ignorance is a horrible state to get comfortable in. In other words, this is pop music, but it isn't American pop music. With the careful addition of idiosyncracies in otherwise typically indie music, the Moonbabies make songs that get stuck in your head but don't make you feel like you've lost brain cells. In fact, I feel like I'm exercising my brain by listening to them. Each one is so intricately instructed, it feels incredibly personal. "The Orange Billboard" sounds so much like two people saying goodbye, it gives me chills. But it isn't a sad song like you might expect. The light sounds of the instrument contradict this feeling so that you can still feel the hope that they will see each other again someday. Yet they also have songs like "Forever Changes Everything Now", which sounds like a cheesy love song in a way but doesn't fall into the trap of affirming that with stupid cliches.

There is also the fact that they write good songs. Their accents may obscure what they are singing occasionally, but they are adept lyricists. As sweet and sugary as Moonbabies sound at first, if you listen closely, you'll hear lyrics like "You can't smell the dirt until they crap on your lawn" in "Fieldtrip USA", or the opening lines of "Summer Kids Go": "You smell my fear through the telephone/ Staring down my throat." Usually, when I hear a band like this whose first language isn't English, I have to give them a little credit for writing in a language they aren't native to, but I make no such concessions for the Moonbabies. They know what they're doing.

In short, this album is spectacular, and I love it more each time I listen to it. Don't be driven away by its candy-coating; there are finer things on the inside. - Eden Hemming Rose

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

Although it's been a few years now since Moonbabies' debut album, June and Novas, took me completely by surprise, the few teases in between - an EP, a fine 7", held me over for this, the band's sophomore album The Orange Billboard. And the Swedish duo of Ola and Carina has outdone itself, building on a startlingly good album with one that's even better, perhaps one of the best pop albums I've heard in quite some time.

The fact that The Orange Billboard is Moonbabies' first for Hidden Agenda should come as no surprise, as that label has virtually cornered the market on Swedish pop, from Soundtrack of Our Lives to The Wannadies. Still, The Orange Billboard takes pop music to another layer. Although just two musicians are at the core of this project, these two create enough sound and compliment it with such perfect production that they make the process seem effortless, making pop that's significantly universal.

While many bands are playing modern indie-pop with a knowing debt to the stalwarts - Beatles, Beach Boys, etc. - Moonbabies effortlessly mix their influences, combining bits of that timeless pop with Sonic Youth-esque rock, keyboard-driven pop, and more modern indie rock. Few can combine such elements as well, and if The Orange Billboard feels a bit lighter in tone than June and Novas, the songs are tighter, catchier, and stronger than ever.

The songs run the gambit from the mournful, piano-led ballad "Over My Head" to the light, poppy "Crime o' the Moon," which will have you bopping along with the organ line. The band can rock, as the thin layer of distortion and grungy guitars beneath the shimmering glaze of "Fieldtrip USA," and the faster-paced guitar-driven "Jets" show. And other songs, like "Sun A.M.," showcase light, keyboard-driven pop, while the closer, "You Know How it Is," is virtually shoegazer bliss of guitars and vocals, shimmering and lush.

The best songs here defy simple labels. "Summer Kids Go" is pure summery bliss, with beautiful vocals, light rhythm, layers of guitars and chiming keys, and a soothing pace. Acoustic guitar and more unique percussion add to the more rootsy pop of "Forever Changes Everything Now," which features both the male and female vocals mixing beautifully. And the seven-minute title track mixes soft electronic beats with acoustic guitar and rich vocals with some found samples, all for a unique pop experience that's equal parts Beach Boys and Flaming Lips.

Moonbabies proves that the best European pop music today is coming from Sweden (and Hives be damned). The Orange Billboard sounds so good, plays so fluidly, feels so tight that it has a timeless quality, and there is not a single weak track on this album. In short, the duo of Ola and Carina has crafted a stellar pop album worthy of worldwide recognition. - Jeff Marsh

Moonbabies
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: 4/5

Moonbabies masterfully utilize organic, electronic sounds

If you consume lots of music like I do, haven't you ever found yourself stranded in the no-man's-land between experimental edginess and pop simplicity, where neither side on its own can quite reach the itch of that mood? Well, the sophomore album The Orange Billboard by Swedish duo Moonbabies gracefully spans this divide.
To put it simply, Moonbabies masterfully utilize both organic and electronic sounds. The complexity of their music lies in the ways they use these often opposing aesthetics: sometimes seamlessly integrating them with one another, sometimes juxtaposing them to create interesting tension, sometimes sharply oscillating between them. And they do all of this without ever sounding maladroit or overreaching.

Despite the inherent challenge in their approach and the infinite difficulties that its execution could present, the pop purity of these songs is not only intact, it's incandescent. Even on the first listen, when the unusual elements stand out the most, it is clear to the ear that the pristine melodies are the centerpiece of the album. The quirky touches only give the Moonbabies' music that much more character. The net result is a signature sound that is similar to the brilliant Grandaddy, but with less self-consciousness and more optimism.

The opening track, "Fieldtrip USA," best embodies this unusual edge. It starts off like a trip-hop take on the daydream vibe of Dream Academy and after an unusual series of mounting drum rolls the song suddenly bursts into a driving and melodic guitar song in full flight. Back and forth it goes throughout the entire song.

"Sun A.M." starts out with a beat that will make you think you're listening to a DJ Icey loop-track. But after gradually adding layers of sound, it ends up as an organically expansive indie rock song. They even squeeze in a capricious Yo La Tengo-esque guitar break.

Showing a pensive side, "Over My Head" sounds like Grandaddy doing a torchlight ballad complete with melancholic piano and processor-voiced crooning. The beautiful "You Know How It Is" sports a haunting melody similar to Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" except with the stripped-down accompaniment of a piano, acoustic guitar and violin.

The width of their aesthetic spectrum is only broadened by the fact that both band members sing, affording them the emotional subtleties of either female or male voice and both are multi-instrumentalists. Scant few bands can wear the shoes of a motley selection of artists, one that can range from My Bloody Valentine to I Am The World Trade Center, and not only walk comfortably but find a stride all their own. On only their second album, Moonbabies have already proven that they can. - Bao Le-Huu

MOONBABIES
The Orange Billboard
(Hidden Agenda)

Rating: none

You can’t say this very often in music today but here goes; the Moonbabies are for real. They’re putting out amazing songs, void of any pretension, new trends or ineptitude. There’s no mediocrity here yet nobody has to try too hard, reach too deep or force anything. And I’m so into that.

With every track on The Orange Billboard sounding as if it could be on a movie soundtrack, their songs have life, quality and heart in all their many layers. Their music has a warm sound, thick and fuzzy, while stilling maintaining an intricate seriousness. They play the kind of pop music that will never go out of fashion. The dual vocals of Carina Johannsson and Ola Frick have the same friendly, genuine qualities of the rest of their music.

When it comes to male/female dual vocals, that feature is usually a complete turn off for me. In general I find it to be cheesy, kitschy and it seems that by a rule one can usually sing while the other is around to make the other look good. Not the case here. This isn’t the kind of girl/guy vocal stuff that’s made for scrawny emo-lovers. It’s real singing, real programming and real competence.

Everything about Sweden’s Moonbabies sophomore album, The Orange Billboard is good. It’s electronic pop with a little bit of a vintage quality and all the charm and sophistication of bands such as Stereolab, Belle and Sebastian and even the Cardigans at their subtler moments. While their electronic elements are intricate and perfected, their instrumentation manages to remain expansive and atmospheric.

Moonbabies’ disposition is the perfect balance between moody and brilliantly charming. Not many bands could pull off such a quality of warmth doing what they do. It’s an album for everyone, any mood, anytime. And that alone is a hard thing to come by. - steph haselman