- On The English Riviera and Nights Out, Joe Mount, the main creative force behind Metronomy, seemed to be working to a specific purpose: transforming what indie rock could be by bathing it in the glamour of disco, '80s synth pop and contemporary R&B. Mount is a diligent student of songcraft in the brainy, British tradition of Prefab Sprout or Scritti Politti, and his best tracks, such as "Heartbreaker" and "The Bay," were indie-dance classics, at once euphoric and melancholic.
Love Letters is a subtly but significantly different album. Recorded at London's Toe Rag, a vintage analogue studio where The White Stripes have worked, this record still has an electronic undertow, but it's also dominated by pastoral folk and '60s psychedelic pop influences. Historically, Mount's sleek, computerised music sounded like it emerged from conflicted nights on club dance floors, but Love Letters is more mature, doleful and disconnected from club trends. The title track's ineffectual Motown homage, and the drippy, paisley-patterned rock songs "Month of Sundays" or "The Most Immaculate Haircut," fail to make a case for such nostalgia. Nor does "Boy Racers", a painstakingly traditional Italo disco track.
Love Letters is far more interesting when these peculiar elements intertwine. "The Upsetter" has a quicksilver vocal informed by Mount's love of Aaliyah, but with all its tape hiss and cheap drum machine sounds, it could be a home demo. "I'm Aquarius," a track which combines several generations of R&B, is likewise stripped of any patronising production polish and, consequently, achieves a potent intimacy. In these strange moments—the Krautrock pop of "Call Me" or the transcendent "Reservoir"—Mount still sounds like a singular talent, gently pushing music forward.
Tracklist01. The Upsetter
02. I’m Aquarius
03. Monstrous
04. Love Letters
05. Month of Sundays
06. Boy Racers
07. Call Me
08. The Most Immaculate Haircut
09. Reservoir
10. Never Wanted