The Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted
Posted by AlMachine on Thursday, April 19, 2007

Like waking up next to find Kate Winslet lying back in your bed with a satisfied smile on her face, The Electric Soft Parade’s album makes you stop in your tracks and ask yourself: “What just happened there?”
Most people would have expected brothers Alex and Tom White to content themselves in Brakes these days, after seemingly peaking with their Mercury-nominated debut followed by a sophomore effort that didn’t so much sink without a trace as fall to the floor like a still-born lamb.
But far from concede defeat and accept a bit part in the unwritten years of mid-noughties indie, the pair have had another crack of the whip. And, as Jim Bowen would say, haven’t they done well.
No Need To Be Downhearted has retained much of the dreamy ambience that was so unvalued on their second record, but it has rediscovered the tunes that saw them hailed as darlings of the dance floor in the first place.
The first single to be lifted from the record, If That’s The Case, The I Don’t Know is already jostling for position on the podium for track of the year thanks to its infectious guitar hooks and buttock-busting bassline.
Even the cheeky Mockney piano of Cold World could put a smile on even Alan Sugar’s grizzled face.
But among the fun and frolics there is sublime grace in slower numbers like Secrets, with an earnest brass and booming bass drums.
It may not be the best album to hit the shelves this year, but not even Russell Grant could have predicted a return as impressive as this.

Andy Robbins

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