Gregory O’Brien
CCE CONTRIBUTOR
NYPC
NYPC
Reborn, rejuvenated, or just plain reinventing, NYPC (previously known as New Young Pony Club) have come a long way from their 2007 Mercury prize winning, nu-rave album, Fantastic Playground.
Stripping down their name and saying goodbye to former band mates Lou Hayter and Sarah Jones, NYPC originals Tahita Bulmer and Andy Spence have spent the past two years crafting an album permeated with luscious soundscapes, textured sentiment and teasing rhythms aching for a dance floor release.
The few tracks that hark back to NYPC’s previous two records — most notably “Overtime” — tend to be the least memorable here. Past habits aside, this eponymous album shows NYPC has evolved into a niche of aural artistry all their own.
Playing with the best elements of pop and electronic dance music, the album layers loops of glitch beats and dissonance atop a minimalist structure of bass lines and heart beating drums. Bulmer’s crooning punk chic vocals never shy from ringing smooth, as melodies ripen under her care.
Tracks like “You Used to Be a Man” and “Everything Is” stand above the rest, burning with swift intelligence. Both tracks explore new directions in dense grooves that reveal a unifying vision, which revels with depth in superficiality.
It is the end of the album that sees NYPC at their best. The last track, “L.O.V.E.”, which suggests tongue and cheek letter play, swims across an alluring downbeat paean to the cathartic
shores of the album’s earnest.
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