The Sundays - Static & Silence

The last of the Sundays' three albums sees them playing to their strengths with an elegant collection of light pop. The sunny "Summertime" shows off these strengths perfectly, as Harriet Wheeler floats out the cute "squeeze and a sigh and a twinkle in the eye" chorus. But taken as a whole it's a lot more restrained and reflective than we're used to, with some of their bright-eyed indie-pop transformed into gentle folk. Apparently they had been listening to a lot of Van Morrison in the years since "Blind". This comes out clearly in the rich string-soaked harmonies of "Folk Song". It's also good to hear them colouring their basic jangly-guitars sound here and there with horn stabs, light string arrangements, and flute. It took me ages to realise where I had heard the insistent riff of "Another Flavour" - it was the theme for Newman and Baddiel's TV comedy show "In Pieces". Not, as I originally thought, the similarly trendy 1990s British shows "Game On" or "This Life".

August 10, 2004

7 out of 10

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