[rating=3.50]
Part of the thing that makes the Swedish indie pop trio Miike Snow so intriguing is their unflinching love of variety. Not content to simply make great dance cuts like “Sylvia” and “Black and Blue” as they did on their first release, they dip into the surreal with equal aplomb and dabble in a host of sounds and genres. This is the sort of creativity that helps define bands’ greatness and the desire to try new things is what makes their music noteworthy.
Happy to You is a continuation of these trends. From the cut-and-paste lyrics of “God Help This Divorce” to the mixture of whistling, military-style drumming, lullaby-like keys and the occasionally fuzzy Michael Winslow-like vocals found in “Bavarian #1 (Say You Will),” the results definitely tend towards the off-kilter. But Happy to You is not without its more straightforward moments either, as evidenced by “The Wave” which is catchy as hell and is a bit of a kissing cousin to “Sylvia” in terms of its sound and delivery. Between that track and the album’s closer, “Paddling,” Happy to You has moments that will make you get your groove on (unless you have no pulse).
This album doesn’t have quite the same level of danceability as their self-titled debut, but it packs a different sort of punch because of its love of the unusual and its willingness to go in multiple directions. Happy to You is a fresh and engaging release.
