THE MARY ONETTES ISLANDS ALBUM LABRADOR RELEASE: OCTOBER 28, 2009 (JAPAN) NOVEMBER 3, 2009 (USA), NOVEMBER 4, 2009 (EUROPE) REVIEW: OCTOBER 8, 2009

Reading about the new Mary Onettes album makes me feel very sad for the boys, since they have had more than their fair share of trouble recording it. The hard drive with almost every single song the band had ever recorded was stolen from band member Philip Ekström's car, and to make matters worse, his backup was lost because of a power failure at home. After the initial shock, they decided to do it all over again, which created a lot of unhappiness, at least at the beginning of the recordings.

I don't know how this incident influenced the album, and how it sounded the first time around, but it turned out brilliant. The best word to describe it is "shimmering" as the guitars, vocals, strings and melodies all have a sort of glittering feeling, lifting you up with it.

Another way of describing it is simply to say "The Cure", but that's not entirely fair methinks. They sound alike for sure, but The Mary Onettes aim more for straight pop songs, with big arrangements and choruses. And I love it.

The debut album is a fantastic piece of work, and this new full length is also a brilliant collection of songs. It takes a bit longer to get into, but the melodies come creeping into your subconscious after a while and refuses to let go.

The eighties production style with lots of big drums and reverb fits perfectly and I get nice little nostalgia bumps on my skin as I play it.

I heartily recommend this if you like The Cure, and big, bombastic, eighties style guitar pop in general. Quite possibly the finest album produced in Sweden this year, I wish them all the luck in reaching a bigger audience.

JOHAN CARLSSON