Album Review - Miike Snow: Happy To You

Miike Snow
Happy To You
Rating: Woof Daddy

Miike Snow, the indie-electronic trio comprised of the production team of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (also known as Bloodshy & Avant) and singer Andrew Wyatt, released their debut album back in 2009 and it was a surprise success considering how strange the album was. It was thought originally that Karlsson and Winnberg, who had produced for Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, and Madonna, would create a fairly traditional pop album in the mold of those artists, yet confounded everyone with the quirky nature of their tracks. It was an album that, while having several immediate sounding singles, still took a long time to grow on me, having to earn its spot among my most listened to records. Since that album, they have toured extensively and have released some one-off singles here and there, never really giving much indication what direction they would be heading in. Over the past few months, through viral video and ad campaigns they have been teasing the new album Happy To You, most notably through a very bizarre series of videos featuring the "perfect man" named Jean Noel Mustonen. This search for and attempts at perfection are littered through the lyrics of the album, the characters always undone by their faults and imperfections. Despite some of the jauntiest and brightest musical backing, there is an intense sense of loneliness and melancholy throughout the record. It is pop music as soul diving exploration.

The most noticeable thing about Happy To You, is how musically insane it all is, as if mad geniuses have taken over the studio. All of the tracks are positively bursting with strange instruments, samples, vocal tweaks, and basically everything but the kitchen sink. "Enter The Joker's Lair" starts things off as a base camp and introduction to the insanity that will come forth. It's almost circus-like patterns of rolling keyboards a perfect start to the chaos within. Leading into new single "The Wave"'s martial drumming and bold piano chords, a haunting track about being led into battle (whether it be war, love, success, or other) and realizing you are basically screwed. The narrator being led to his demise: "You can hear them/You can hear them banging on the tin/But my love won’t be saved/We’ll all be staring at the wave."



Stunning first single "Devil's Work" charges forward on dense patterned drums, more stark piano chords, and a swirling cloud of horns and strings. The song about realizing it is an easy slide over to the dark side: "You don't need to sell your shirt/To do the devil's work/You finally found your place/You know it always works."



These epiphanies appear throughout the album, the characters seemingly aware of their limitations and striving to correct them, yet somehow are fated to always wind up back where they started. The divorcee of "God Help This Divorce" losing his wife by holding her back due to his crippling insecurities, looking upon people walking down the street and seeing "so many beautiful faces that don’t need me." And the husband in "Pretender" goes through the motions of his life realizing in the morning "I didn’t wanna wake up/But then I felt your touch/Now I notice that I drink too much."



Or the narrator of "Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)" who despite his assurances to his love that he will faithful and true, "I can’t be trusted/To wait on hard times/I’d rather run out/And be caught behind the lines."



All of these tracks have the most diverse backgrounds, from the countrified/orchestral ache of "Divorce," the skittering beats and funk horns of "Pretender," to the martial drumming and military feel of "Bavarian," which equates love as war.

For lyrical themes as heavy as these, you would think the album would be a downer, but the musical accompaniment is frequently joyous and mercurial, belying the pain and suffering going on. "Archipelago" floats on a jaunty, bouncy cloud of burbling bass synths, twinkling keyboards, rushing drums, and rolls of pianos, all while the narrator bemoans the loss of his lover. Or the whirlygig weirdness of "Paddling Out" and its whooshing keyboards and disco drums backing a track about getting away from the herd.



And the breezy tropicalia of "No Starry World" and its haunting realization you can't go through life with rose colored glasses, asking "sell me no/starry world/but I tried."

Miike Snow have really stretched themselves musically this go around. There are many musical touchstones that pass through the songs linking them together, from the martial drumming, strident piano chords, and subtle use of horns. Happy To You finds the band being bold and adventurous with their sound, even when it might not sit well with fans of their poppier material. High profile collaboration with Lykke Li, "Black Tin Box," is perhaps the darkest, most unusual track they have ever written. Manipulated vocals intone bleakly over burbling electronics, eclectic percussion touches, theremin, and delicate steel drum pads.



This bold, insightful, haunting, and catchy as hell record is a stunning light years jump ahead for Miike Snow, vaulting them into the upper echelons of indie pop royalty. To say that each listen draws you in further to the record, unearthing new and interesting aspects each time, is a vast understatement. There is going to be an epic battle at the end of the year for album of the year, and right now, Miike Snow's Happy To You is king of the heap.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.