The Dolls

Bringing together Craig Armstrong's jazzy piano, Vladislav Delay's dub bass-scapes and Antye Greie's abstruse lyrical musings seems like such an inspired idea that it is surprising it hasn't happened earlier. With the AGF/Delay collaboration Explode Baby as the launching point, Delay and Greie create a constantly shifting percussive landscape for Armstrong to majestify. Which he does. His fluid work here is on par with the best of his solo works. And Delay is also at the top of his game, finding new ideas in shorter songs (topping out here at no longer than six-and-a-half minutes), succeeding where an earlier solo album of shorter pieces, Demo(n) Tracks, failed. But it is Greie, who finally, actually sings in her charming, slightly accented English, who steals the show. Leaving behind the glitched-out cut-up vocal style she unfortunately pioneered on Head Slash Bauch, she reveals herself as a stylistically interesting singer, finding eroticism in the breathy readings of her mundane lyrics. The trio play off (so to speak) each other so well that this album should not just be a one-off. Highly recommended.