Yeasayer - Odd Blood

The intersecting percussion lines, swishy keys, staccato piano rhythms, the dense production through which arrangements poke out at the listener unexpectedly – it’s not what you might expect from Yeasayer. It’s more what you might expect from Animal Collective, whose music Odd Blood conjures at times – but what’s ultimately arresting about Odd Blood, however, is that it also conjures Erasure. Yes, the insistent disco beats and dance-dramatic vocal bring to mind a retro new wave club vibe that shouldn’t mesh with the rest of Yeasayer’s newest sound. Yet mesh it does. They’ve followed their own advice from the first single, Ambling Alp; they’re not minding what anybody else does. They’re simply fine-tuning what others do, knitting together disparate elements into a danceable must-listen album. “O.N.E.” stands out as the track that tips the scales to essential listening, though the less accessible tracks only need a few moments to stick. “Love Me Girl” veers from ambient house to Prince and back again, while “Mondegreen” imagines the Junior Boys on some funky amphetamines. Bits of Yeasayer’s dreamier ambience can still be found, but for the most part it is repurposed. Given how strong Odd Blood sounds, it’s a higher purpose, too.