I hate winter but I have springtime in my heart now having heard the new album from Le SuperHomard. Meadow Lane Park, out today via the esteemed Elefant Records label, is a downright invigorating record. If you can remember the joy you felt when you first heard Stereolab, you will likely feel that vibe again when you play much of this one.
If opener "In The Park" recalls Broadcast a bit, the more expansive "Springtime" is even better, bits of Saint Etienne's best singles mixed up with faint hints of mid-tempo New Order numbers. This is, like so much on Meadow Lane Park, pop music of the very best sort, even as the delicate "Snowflakes" veers into the sort of territory frequently occupied by peers Lake Ruth. Elsewhere, "Paper Girl" is an instant classic, all vintage French ye-ye music revved up a bit and polished until it shines with the sort of sheen of the best Cardigans singles, while the elegant "Karaoking" is more deliberate and nonetheless exuberantly infectious. While those two numbers are just fantastic, Le SuperHomard seem not content to simply make masterful and sublime chamber pop, as the percolating "SDVB" illustrates, even as the title cut is a hopscotch pattern of Dubstar hooks and Francoise Hardy-style vocals.
The players here inject this material with enough heft that one never feels like the whole thing is simply an exercise in mastering a past style. And, of course, the superb hooks here are enough to ensure that this one gets a lot of notice. Frankly, there are moments so lovely and catchy on Meadow Lane Park that I'm sort of surprised that I barely knew many of the band's songs before now. Effortlessly cool, easily affecting, and the sound of a beautiful day, or the memory of, or wish for, one, this is an absolutely fantastic record.
Meadow Lane Park by Le SuperHomard is out today via Elefant Records.
More details on Le SuperHomard via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Alice Lemarin]