Moreish Idols - All in the Game

Speedy Wunderground

Speedy Wunderground's Moreish Idols release their long awaited debut album All in the Game. Lead singles in the run-up to the records release included: "Pale Blue Dot" - which was Speedy Wunderground's 50th single - "Slouch" and "Dream Pixel", which was my personal favourite of the bunch. 

Pop of the dense variety. Both in sound and in layers. The production packs this viscous punch. Lush vitality, like being lost in a lucid dream. Odd happenings unfold. Hands fall through dinner tables as family dinner dissolves into chaos. Uninhabited shoes tap dance as your dad does somersaults. A mysterious, seductive energy radiates out of the reverberant essence of All in the Game - sexy sourness airs out of the material. The project feels like it's hovering forwards at times - it's on a mission. It's hard to tell whether it's on a mission of good or evil; most likely it's somewhere in between - neither here nor there, but simultaneously everywhere. Indifferent. 

Hypnotic wind instruments breeze through title track "All in the Game" - fill your lungs with this essence. Deep breathes and even deeper grooves. An airy robustness sits centre to Moreish Idols material. Swells of luxurious atmosphere build and burst. Splashes of a spaghetti western thriller are brought to life through "Acid". You can hear the tightness of eyelids close - and eyes focus - as the knuckles of a cowboy crack somewhere in the distance of the track. Some gunslinger has his new anthem. 

We don't hear the familiar sounds of "Pale Blue Dot" until five tracks in. This says to me that the band believe in their abilities to overcome and somewhat negate the traditional format of a record - giving the listener what they know as early on as possible. If you're good at what you do, the rules do not apply to you. 

All in the Game has all the elements of "pop" music without abusing them. A love for the craft of song is apparent. These tracks ooze care and commitment to immersive, deeply rewarding material. As far as I can make out, the album ends on a bit of a cyclical loop - a bookend reprise of sorts. When it ends it begins again. 

Moreish Idols more than impress on their first full length outing. 

Subversive treacle.