Caribou - Our Love

Our Love is Dan Snaith's fourth LP, and first in four years, under his Caribou moniker. Throughout the 10 tracks of the album, Snaith creates a rich tapestry of sounds that have a warmth and richness to them that envelops the listener at each turn. It's always quite amazing to find artists who can take the seemingly cold and calculating (computers, software programs, electronic equipment, and so on) and manipulate them to ultimately achieve a sound that offers a kind of 21st Century campfire warmth.

The album begins with "Can't Do Without You", whose same words are repeated throughout as the music slowly crescendo's evoking imagery of the romantic kind. Is Snaith speaking to his fans or to someone closer to him? "Silver" follows with a wave of sound that hugs the listener as if the audience has been placed in a cloud. This sense of closeness gives the track a deeply personal feel. "Second Chance" sounds like a masterfully produced R&B track. Interestingly though, it essentially excludes any kind of drum or bass beat and is instead driven by Canadian Jessy Lanza's breathy vocals and Snaiths airy synthesizer. "Dive" slowly builds, pulling the listener head first towards a musical vortex. There is only one complaint, and it's selfish in nature, would that Snaith had taken us further in before pulling us out.

One of the successes of this album is that not only are the 10 individual tracks compelling, vibrant, and chalked full of emotion, but that there is meaningfulness to the album as a whole. Our Love doesn't push the musical envelope of electronic music. However, the album does offer a breadth of human feelings and emotions, which lends it to seem as if it's speaking to each listener individually. This is not a standard four-on-the-floor electronic album, there's something much more tangible going on.

--Fredy M. Iuni hosts Hiway 1, Mondays at 7:00 PM on CJLO.