Kisses - The Heart Of The Nightlife (This Is Music)
Sometimes once can accurately judge a book, or in this case a record, by it's cover. 'The Heart Of The Nightlife' comes adorned in a sleeve depicting a swimming pool straight out of a David Hockney or Ed Ruscha picture and the music within is bleached out sophisto-disco-pop; Arthur Russell jamming with Chic whilst Jens Lekman watches shyly from the shadows. In fact, close your eyes and this could be a Lekman record, such is the similarity between Kisses' Jesse Kivel and the Swedish crooner.

Luckily for the band, the songwriting on their debut album is just as strong as that on the records that clearly influence them ('Night Falls Over Kortedala', 'World of Echo', 'C'est Chic' to name but three). Kisses' music possesses a youthful innocence that manages to not stray into banal reminiscing, and it's this that elevates them above their chillwave peers.

The chorus of 'Bermuda', a track that sent the, ugh, blogosphere into mild spasms of joy has a chorus which finds Kivel sweetly intoning "I thought all my friends were over me" over uplifting staccato synths. 'Midnight Lover' finds him making a rather sweet proposition to the apple of his eye, "I would like to take you out for a nice steak dinner, just me and you".

Sweet, eminently listenable, a master class in modern pop, this is a record to take home to the parents after a day by the pool.

Review originally published by CMU Music Network: www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk

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