The Space Between

It's not surprising that Tiny Fireflies' debut album The Space Between is a hook-filled, sticky-sweet pop delight considering that Kristine Capua and Lisle Mitnik, the duo behind the band, were responsible for some similarly nice sounds with their Very Truly Yours and Fireflies projects. For anyone familiar with those bands, the surprise here is that they are making icy-cold synth pop with a warm heart, instead of jangling indie pop or fragile chamber pop. With the help of Saint Etienne and Field Mice producer Ian Catt, the duo has crafted a sound that's rooted in the Factory sound of New Order and the Wake, with billowing synth pads and jagged guitar lines predominating and subtly propulsive beats underneath moving the uptempo songs along nicely. These are balanced by swooning ballads that really show off Capua's vocals, which are much more assured and emotionally rich here than in Very Truly Yours. The duo and Catt get a great sound throughout and the songs hold up their end too, with the bulk of them hitting hard, digging in deep, and sticking around for a while. Whether they are of a gently melancholy nature, like the glittering "Brightest Star," or even more impressively melancholy, like the rest of the album basically, the songs are some of the best retro synth pop around in 2015. Played with restrained passion, recorded and produced with a light touch, and sung with a tenderness that is sure to melt even the coldest of hearts, The Space Between is a small-scale delight that deserves attention from anyone who loves indie pop with synths.