Kudos to Jo Good on 6Music for the introductory feed to the new Caribou album ‘Swim’ on her show over the weekend which is another one of my better late than never find/reviews. Y’see that’s why the public took to the streets with metaphorical burning torches to save the station, so our musical education could continue.

Caribou is a new point of reference for me, but being an electronica nut it is a good one and if you like your beats in the mid tempo range and not too bone crushingly hefty then this could very well be in your ballpark. Dan Snaith’s nine song collection meanders over the lighter moods of electronica, plenty of warm Rhodes style sounds intermingling with lightly funked up beats and lots of top end percussion, even the guest vocals sit high in the pop soul register, there’s no sweeping dark undercurrent to be found and in many ways that is the most refreshing aspect.

Occasionally we get some lovely stabs of slightly skewed house. The delightful ‘Bowls’ comes on a bit stroppy but never carries the weight to start punching in really dark territory, that’s OK though the bouncy off kilter chords would never stand an overdose of the dark stuff and what with the slightly latin percussive flavour everything works out fine as a consequence.

There’s a recurring urgency in many of the tracks, the pulsing cowbell and repetitive flute loop drive of ‘Leave House’ moves the track onwards while the stark glistening glass sounds jab and weave at the top end while the vocals drift back and forth over the gradually building musical landscape underneath. Lovely stuff.

One thing that really hits me about this album is it really does have its own place, imagine you’re about a day in at a festival. You’ve been hitting the big dance tents with all the subtlety of a rhino on chemicals, after what seems like a week of going at the dancefloor like a whirling dervish you still feel the need to keep going but perhaps at a more sedate pace. These are the tracks that will be your best friends in times like this, you can keep dancing but in the more “I’m a frayed” shuffling kind of state.

A worthy purchase and good company for your ears.