Ah, The Long Blondes are back. A welcome return for a band who impressed with their high-cheekboned pop songs with a twist on their debut album 'Somebody to Drive You Home.' Further good news is that they don't appear to just be rehashing old ground, and have come back with a remarkably different sound.
The downside is that they've headed in a worrying direction. 'Mystery' is an 80's dance number, laced with Human League glamour, but sounding both flat and contrived. It's not a strong performance from lead singer Kate Jackson, and there are too many effects on there. It doesn't really go anywhere and doesn't really make the listener feel anything. This song could have been created by any producer with any singer and a few keyboards. It's unbecoming of a band who managed to perfect inspirationally catchy tunes so early.
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Surely people will dance around their handbags to this song – it would have gone down great in the nightclubs of Pulp's 1980's, but it's less a homage to the past as a replication, and that's not really what The Long Blondes should be aiming for. It's not time to give up, though. There's a new album out next month and there may be more to this new direction than this taster has implied.
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