'New Eyes'
Clean Bandit still remain much of a mystery to me as ever before, despite their now-two major hits on the UK charts - 'Rather Be' featuring the vocals of Jess Glynne, and 'Extraordinary' featuring Sharna Bass.
I don't have the faces behind the electronic music production etched in my mind, and I'm not sure I've heard any of them speak since their shoot to stardom in recent months.
With that in mind, I was excited to tap a little further into their psychés by giving their debut album 'New Eyes' a first listen, and my first impression is that ultimately, it's a mixed bag.
A little research pulls up that there are four members of the group - Jack Patterson on bass guitar and keyboard, Luke Patterson on drums, Grace Chatto on cello and Milan Neil Amin-Smith on violin.
Clean Bandit
Their talent is undeniably proved with each and every song on offer here, mixing genres including classical and funk, stamping the tracks with electro that not many mainstream music listeners will be used to.
Stylo G features on the infectious reggae-esque tune 'Come Over' - a track that could easily be the next to take over the airwaves - whilst 'Telephone Banking' featuring Love Ssega takes the tongue-in-cheek humour approach to tackling the topic of love.
'Heart On Fire' belongs in the clubs with some fantastic upbeat vocals from Elisabeth Troy, but title track 'New Eyes' is a little bit too 'out there' for my taste.
Nothing here reeks of traditional mainstream music releases, and that is something the group should indeed be applauded for. It's brave to go down a unique route such as this one, and though I feel it's very much a hit-and-miss affair here, they should continue to pump out the hits in a career that I have a feeling is just getting started.
Clean Bandit's debut album 'New Eyes' is out now.
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