Figurine - The Heartfelt
(March)
There are a lot of reasons why you might not want to like Figurine. For one, they are a new new wave band that likes to talk about space. And although this may seem to you like a stupid kind of gimmick—the delivery really does work.
The Heartfelt begins with "International Space Station II," male and female vocalists talk about their return to earth from space over the top of chiming electronics, and surprisingly enough it really is pretty charming rather than stupid. The second track "IMpossible" continues the story. Two lovers separated by long a very long distance (possibly light years) decide to end their relationship. "IMpossible" gives you a very good indication of what to expect with the rest of the album: great electronic pop songs. These songs recall the best synth-pop songs of the eighties from "Dreaming of Me" by Depeche Mode to "Almost" by O.M.D. The album is also punctuated by instrumental interludes that are all titled beginning with "paswd:" which are a little inconsistent in their quality.
The strength of Figurine is in their irresistible poppiness. You forgive the sometimes-silly topics, because the songs are so great, you can't help liking them even if you don't want to. Figurine, also, like so many other great electronic pop groups, are fond of the contrast between the danceability and fun element of the music and the deadpan slightly ironic vocal delivery. So, no matter what your feelings are about the possible gimmickry involved, what you have here are irresistible pop songs that are actually emotionally resonant, in spite of their sometimes-silly context.
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