(Remote Control/Inertia)

Swedish production masterminds enlist American singer, make winning pop album

 Sometimes even lucrative anonymity gets a bit boring. Not content with limiting their potential to high-profile mainstream collaborations as Bloodshy & Avant – aka the brains behind Britney Spears’ Toxic – Swedes Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg have made a decision to come out of the shadow and create their own baby project back in 2007. Recruiting US-based Andrew Wyatt (The A.M., Fires Of Rome), the duo turn into a fully-fledged pop trio – not unlike the late ‘00s answer to a-ha – on their self-titled debut. As befits the certified hitmakers, the record overflows with glorious tunes: the simple yet irresistibly catchy Animal is a strong contender for the ‘Pop single of the year’ title, while Burial and Silvia would have had both The Presets and Luke Steele panicking about what to do next. Nowhere near as cold as the CD’s striking cover art (frozen antlered rabbit anyone?) suggests, Miike Snow insert massive hooks and choruses where you’d least expect them – Song For No One, A Horse Is Not A Home, the Passion Pit-like Cult Logic and Plastic Jungle all listen like a Pop Song 101. The crisp, fat-free production shuns the Top 40 ickiness and as a proof that studio wizards have hearts, lilting closer Faker is everything one could ask for in a melancholic piano number. Uncomplicated, quality melodic pop? You’ve got it.

****

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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