Lots of good things have come out of Scandinavia: ABBA, crime thrillers and gender equality, just to name a few. Niki and the Dove are adding to the list of things which makes us wonder why we’ve not already gone to inhabit that hallowed Utopia of northern Europe. The Swedish duo have generally managed to avoid the trappings of the hype machine so far but ‘Instinct’ proves any hype surrounding their name as a clear contender for the synth-pop soundtrack to 2012. Every single one of the 12 songs is a joyful, tribute to everything dancey.
Opener ‘Tomorrow’ grabs the attention with ease and the excruciatingly wonderful slow down to a stop moment in ‘In Your Eyes’ makes it evident from the beginning that this is an album oozing with confidence and enjoyment. Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf manage to create massive labyrinths of music which would be expected of a 7 piece band not a duo. ‘The Gentle Roar’ encompasses menacing whispered undertones with a crashing unison wall of vocals. ‘Last Night’ and ‘DJ Ease My Mind’ move away from the more nature based them of the album, but are still brilliantly executed, reminiscent of a better version of Robyn, as is ‘Somebody’, an unashamed three minute pop song. Tribal drum patterns underlie the layers of synths which are topped off with Dahlström’s incredible voice which takes on a variety of different guises throughout ‘Instinct’: from scary and threatening to upbeat and happy.
It feels like a long time since there has been a solid album of very good pop songs and the one thing this album lacks is variety. But considering it’s Niki and the Dove’s first and its brilliant regardless, we should probably let them off. It’ll only start to become a problem if they turn out to be one trick ponies but right now, I don’t really care if they are.
Of course if anyone was going to bring back pop music it would be the Scandinavians. Bloody typical.
8.1
Jessy Parker
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