Like Creatures of an Hour, Strange Pleasures is a piece of great beauty—albeit, one that’s not for every occasion. If heard at the right time and place, however, it‘s the kind of work that can worm its way into your memory bank and haunt you long after the sounds have faded.
It's to Hughes and Murray's credit that their voyage of discovery that takes in Germanic style looped song structures, Eighties synthpop and even hedonistic disco has paid handsome dividends.
The most baffling incongruity of the record is its name, for there is nothing strange about the pleasures it offers; they are of the most immediate and rewarding variety.
Largely eschewing acoustic guitars, Strange Pleasures is a testament to the full-range of synths, turning what could easily become an exercise in sterility into a multi-faceted pop gem
They've definitely pushed themselves on this album, and the pleasures it offers up aren't strange at all; in fact, they're quite exciting - Hughes and Murray have pulled a stylistic U-turn and embraced pop, and the results are impressive.
‘Strange Pleasures’ is an album of cinematic charm and where, with the weight lifted off his shoulders, Hughes has created a journey along a dark motorway that adds light and colour to stand out from the traffic.
It's more of an adept fusing of very distinct styles into something interesting and almost factory fresh, if not quite to the level of the bands they are drawing inspiration from.
Strange Pleasures works on a much more modest scale, content to subliminally scoot its way in, to serve as connective tissue between the Cocteau Twins and Chromatics on a mixtape, but not as the main attraction.
Love discovering an album I've never heard of before and immediately falling in love with it.
Essential Track - Strange Pleasures
Quite nice, but a bit boring at times. And the soprano vocals get a bit overwhelming sometimes
Quite nice, but a bit boring at times. And the soprano vocals get a bit overwhelming sometimes
Love discovering an album I've never heard of before and immediately falling in love with it.
Essential Track - Strange Pleasures
1 | The Trip 6:14 | 95 |
2 | Beginning to Blue 3:09 | 79 |
3 | I Can't Sleep 3:30 | 60 |
4 | All I Know 3:26 | 62 |
5 | Fireflies 3:16 | 75 |
6 | Berlin Lovers 2:34 | 74 |
7 | Future Age 3:03 | 80 |
8 | Going Back to Strange 2:30 | 70 |
9 | Beatcity 4:05 | 80 |
10 | Midnight Drive 4:24 | 88 |
11 | We Killed the Moonlight 3:18 | 85 |
12 | Strange Pleasures 5:12 | 83 |
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