Niki and The Dove - Instinct
- By Craig Jones -
- May 09, 2012
Swedish electropop duo Niki and The Dove overcome the pressure created from being earmarked as one of the BBC’s Sound of 2012 nominees with a catchy addictive debut album which is pure instinct.
The pair, vocalist Malin Dahlstrom and keyboard player Gustaf Karlof, from Stockholm relentlessly chuck away the shackles of pressure throughout the wonderfully quirky ‘Instinct’. The record is a genre mish mash of indie, pop and electronica, which never disappoints.
Latest single ‘Tomorrow’ is a euphoric culmination of synth and Dahlstrom’s polished youthful vocals which has a little bit of the Kate Bush about it when the Swedish singer bellows ‘I’m ready to learn’ in a frank honest admission that the band, who formed in 2010, are only finding their way in their career but still making a truly promising start to their journey.
In no small part this is due to Dahlstrom who has the rebellious talent of Debbie Harry, the star quality of Madonna in her pomp and the quirky adorable nature of Bjork. She’s at ease throughout the album moving from catchy pop in ‘Somebody’ which would be at home in the top 40 to the dark eerie nature of ‘The Drummer’ which would sound amazing in a dingy European discothèque during the throws of the night.
That is certainly one of the album’s highlights as is ‘Mother Project’ which welcomes a recorder to the mix and miraculously makes it sound pretty cool which is no mean feat at all.
Niki and The Dove have produced a quite stunning debut and duly deserve the accolades which have been beseeched upon them producing a very confident and dynamic album. It is obvious the Swedish duo have an abundance of energy and enthusiasm which leaves much room for experimentation in the coming years.
8/10
By Craig Jones. Tweets at @cjjournalist
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