Miccoli – Arrhythmia

Pop | Indie Pop

78%

Considering the impact that their debut EP made on us, still one of our favourites to this day, it’s surprising how Miccoli’s debut album dropped with little build-up or fanfare. It’s a real shame, as it feels like the sort of album that would have had a real buzz around it in another life. It’s the kind of pop record that you can’t help but open your heart to, the ABBA or Billy Joel kind of pop that just acts as a universal language. No matter a person’s tastes or background, no matter how much they may sneer at the very mention of ‘pop’; you could play songs from Arrhythmia anytime, anywhere and still find people that it can connect with. The whole album is simply aglow with heartwarming harmonies and effervescent riffs, and it won’t take long for its vast arsenal of hooks to work their magic on you.

I doubt anyone could find any major faults with this record, but that sadly doesn’t stop some minor niggles from working together to hold it back. Fourteen tracks is much too long and means that the individual songs don’t have enough room to breathe and stand out from each other. There are a few little issues with diction here and there, and I’m not a fan of the reworked album version of ‘Devices’ when compared to the EP version.

Thankfully, Arrhythmia‘s triumphs far outweigh its failings. ‘Addition’ features such wonderfully understated instrumentation, from emphatic percussion and expressive bass tones to gorgeous piano and a soft swell of strings. The closing piano of ‘Replace’ ends the record with such class and maturity, really adding something to the album when so many other short instrumental pieces end up feeling like needless interludes. However it’s ‘Magnify’ that stands out to me as the album highlight, it has a sense of energy and edge to it that sets it apart. Definitely a side of them that I’d like to hear more of.

There are some highly rated albums that I may never return to, and some that don’t reach the same levels but that I still find myself returning to time and again. This falls into the latter category. It may not make an appearance on my best of the year list, but I can easily see it being one of my most listened to albums of 2019.