It has been over six years since Ready To Hatch, so it is a more than welcome return for the Rennes quartet, The Soap Opera. Back On Tracks is wonderfully restrained melodic excellence. Songs are built on unexpected arrangements, always containing far more than you expect.
Take for instance, Golden Springs S.A.S which is essentially gentle Jangle Pop, but adds in a splendid Baroque Pop arrangement and at times threatens to become 60s Easy Listening. The Clouds Are Laughing vocally is almost Barber Shop quartet, yet instrumentally it is dream like,
Yet, Spacin' Out is a slightly bigger affair, very 80s Glasgow in feel with an Ian McCulloch like vocal and a haunting soundtrack that tries to lead the song into Pastoral Psych Pop. Sword Fight At The Beach is a complete outlier with its Divine Comedy vocal and synth led backing. A little Bossa Nova with a Glammy guitar riff.
Magic Number almost becomes a show song, until the ace Psych Pop solo bursts in. A Sign In A Muddy Road is built around a gobsmackingly find String arrangement. Who Ate The Last Phoney Oreo is surprisingly chipper, all Glam Rock with a Ray Davies sort of vocal.
The problem with gentle understated albums such as this is that an album can be three or four songs too many making you earn for something a bit pacier. There is none of that mainly because of the quality of the arrangements and constant switching part way through a song. The string arrangements are absolutely awesome and worth the admission alone.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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