Cast Away

Glimmering with electro-pop glitz, indie pop quartet Strange Talk's debut LP, Cast Away, improves on the band's catchy early singles by tightening up their sound and amping up the beats and melodic bombast. Recorded over an Australian summer between a pastoral farm and a sun-soaked beach house outside their native city of Melbourne, Cast Away piles on the hooks with warm, sunny tunes like "Morning Sun," "Picking Up All the Pieces," and the memorable title cut. Immaculately produced and recorded by the band, Cast Away was mixed by Tony Hoffer (Beck, M83, Phoenix), who adds the right amount of shimmer and weight to dancefloor numbers like "Another Day" and "Climbing Walls," making for a decidedly unsubtle but completely engaging pop record. ~ Timothy Monger