By Adam Marofke
Coming off their successful 2007 LP In Ghost Colours, Australian electro-pop outfit Cut Copy return with Zonoscope. The album continues in the same vein as their previous two full-lengths, dishing out 11 tracks of blissful, dance-floor ready jams.
The album’s opener, “Need You Now” builds up all through its six minutes to swirling waves of synthesizers. While not as catchy as the Ghost Colours opener “Feel the Love,” the track shows off the group’s various progressions. While the first album was heavy with dance floor grooves that referenced former tour mates Daft Punk, Zonoscope displays subtle yet effective advances in songwriting growth. The album is also marked by more live instrumentation as opposed to purely synthesized electro-pop. Tracks like “Take Me Over” and “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution” are sprinkled with guitar riffs and a variety of percussion with African or Caribbean influences.
What remains the group’s strength, however, is still their genuine and authentic sound. Even if some of the mid-album experiments fail, the album still maintains its sincerely playful attitude. Zonoscope gives the listener light and bouncy melodies that allude to a tropical dance floor far, far away from January doldrums.
Adam Marofke