Culture

Merge 2010
(4/5)


 
 
Diving headfirst into a wash of haze and colour, Caribou's new album Swim envelops the listener instantly. Dan Snaith seems more focused musically than he has since his debut as Manitoba at the turn of the century, as he steers the opening track ‘Odessa’ along the knife edge between haunted pop bliss and disintegrating dance loops. Previous albums have seen Caribou create a chameleonic take on different genres, to the point where albums such as The Milk Of Human Kindness could be positively or negatively critiqued as ‘Caribou does krautrock’. Swim definitely continues in that vein, and is a good indication of the musical environment Caribou has been inhabiting since moving to London.
There is a stronger embrace of the dance floor as the album progresses, but with enough defiant strangeness to display a unique musical vision. Kaili is quick to show Caribou turning the weird into the wonderful, with fragile vocals, reminiscent of Arthur Russel's own, floating on panning and phasing synths and a scattered horn section. Unfortunately, Swim can become too similar to the fabric Snaith has cut his inspiration from. With his long kinship with Kieran Hebden well known, it's not surprising that at times this can sound like the still-warm b-sides for There Is Love In You. But when Caribou shows his own colours again as the album winds down, there is no doubt he has created art to savour for years.