Metronomy (pronounced Meh-TRON-oh-mee) have been pumping out ear candy for quite some time, spawning two albums worth of spectacular synthetics worthy of rivaling other more well-known English electronica. 2008's Nights Out saw a bit of a tightening of the untamed sound of their debut, demonstrating front-man Joseph Mount's ability to take a bedroom-beats platform (Metronomy at its origin) and turn it into single-ready songs like "Heartbreaker", all without losing the repetitive brilliance of momentous cuts like "On The Motorway". It's annoying that they've flown below the radar for this long, but it's not a surprise they suddenly burst into the scene. The English Riviera, Mount's concept album about the sun-soaked destination on the coast of England, is more than just a collection of enjoyable noises—it's a blissful compendium of squashed emotions, inflated hopes, and sunshine cynicism, wrapped in a blanket of brilliant beatsmithery. It's also up for the coveted Barclay's Mercury Prize, so there's that.

...keep reading...