Tender Buttons

For their first album as a duo (the band consists solely of singer Trish Keenan and multi-instrumentalist James Cargill on TENDER BUTTONS), Broadcast took two years to shake up the densely layered electronic latticeworks of their previous efforts and return with a more straightforward--but still intoxicating--approach. Combining distorted minimalist hooks with Keenan's more floral singing style--the duo balance poppier gems such as "Black Cat" and "Goodbye Girls" with darker, more mournful material like "Minus 3" and "Corporeal." The familiar Francoise Hardy and Stereolab influences remain, but, at times, sonic similarities to Suicide and Portishead emerge. TENDER BUTTONS departs from the established swirl of classic Broadcast, but there are still enough mutated mellotrons, enveloping optigons, and electro trickery to satisfy the most ardent fans.