The Concretes

The Concretes' previous album showcased the band's love for Motown, but filtered through their Velvet Underground indie rock approach. This time around the Swedes have made a wonderfully unapologetic pop record that sounds like The Carpenters fronted by Petula Clark (this is a compliment, by the way).

But unlike a Carpenters or Petula Clark album, Concretes in Colour is not necessarily a showcase for Victoria Bergsman's voice. And unlike previous releases, these songs are not guitar driven or even remotely electric. The songs are fully realized chamber pop arrangements, with flugelhorn and all. The album's two most straightforward pop tunes -- "On the Radio" and "Song for the Songs" -- serve as the album's bookends, and let Victoria belt out over the horns. But the slow burn track that will eventually become your favorite is "A Way of Life." It sounds eerily like an early '90s Sundays song, and it's a welcome reminder to the gap left by that band's departure.

There may not be much exceptional about the album, other than the fact that it's exceptionally pleasant. But that's a feat in and of itself. These songs are instantly familiar and you're never looking for the skip button. A band that goes from sounding like the Velvet Underground to a '60s West Coast pop band is probably going to lose some indie rock cred in the process, but as a record, this stands up to anything they've done before. This is pop music without pretense. And it's just in time to become your favorite spring/summer album. Listen to it on a sunny weekend morning with the windows open. -- Doug Kamin

With the Concretes always finding new ways to explore and expand their irresistible pop, Concretes in Colour finds the Swedish collective making another sonic jump, just as they did between their first album and their early EPs. Granted, this album isn't nearly as big a step forward as The Concretes was from the Boy, You Better Run Now era; actually, with its simpler production and unhurried songs, it could be seen as a step to the side for a bit of fresh air. The mix of chugging guitars and brass on "Fiction" and "Chosen One" is the closest Concretes in Colour comes to the Velvet Undergound/Motown mash-up of The Concretes, but the rest of the album finds a happy medium between the lushness of the first album and the sweet sketches of the band's earlier work, and throws in touches of folk, country, and pop of all kinds for good measure. "On the Radio" is more Petula Clark than Diana Ross, while "Sunbeams" boasts coyly charming lyrics like "I didn't know you were you." Meanwhile, the beautiful harmonies, mandolins, and strings on "Change in the Weather" and "Grey Days" sound like the influence of the Concretes' equally charming side project, Heikki, has been filtered back into the main band's music. And, though Concretes in Color is overall a less showy collection of songs than the debut album was, "Song for the Song"'s quicksilver changes and the spacy nighttime ballad "Tomorrow" show that the Concretes haven't lost their sense of mischief or flair for the theatrical. Though there are a few draggy songs on the album and "Your Call," a ballad with the Magic Numbers' Romeo Stodart, doesn't go much of anywhere, Concretes in Colour is still full of quietly vibrant moments. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide