Record Review - Kiki Pau

KIKI PAU
Pines
Self-released CD

This Finnish band have the distinction of having their new album mixed by Dungen mainman Gustav Ejstes who has certainly never disappointed in his own musical career and comes up trumps here as well. Kiki Pau have been around since 2006 but have been gradually moving away from their indie roots into something much more interesting and fulfilling.

The band still retain some of the bounce of ‘90s indie, particularly in their vocal arrangements, but these are merely used as springboards as the band take a journey into all sorts of different terrain – from Exotica to pure Prog to New Age and even hints at Afropop (sometimes within the same song).

With four long songs on offer here the band really get time to spread out and extemporise to great effect. Despite the melange of styles the whole album sounds very cohesive and really catches the ear in places with a number of inventive arrangements and melodies. Recommended.

Austin Matthews