Télépopmusik - Angel Milk (2005) CD-Rip

Télépopmusik's sophomore effort is filled with beautiful backing tracks. Pillows of soft synth slowly emerge while pianos, harps, brass instruments, electronic ticks, and glitches stroll in and out of the picture as they please. This subdued electronica landscape is something to get lost in, and while it's nothing you haven't heard before, it's exactly what headphones crave on rainy days and almost enough to excuse the hackneyed lyrics and overindulgence. Almost. "Last Train to Wherever"'s "did you get the letter?/the one I never sent ya" is just one of the cringe-worthy couplets Angel Milk is stuffed with. Mau, a vocalist who apes the styles of Tricky and Massive Attack's 3D -- as opposed to Deborah Anderson, who apes Björk, and Angela McCluskey, who apes Billie Holiday -- delivers the couplet so heavy-handedly it's impossible to ignore no matter how hard you try. Hanging all this derivative quirk and cleverness on the thin melodies is bad enough, but the album really stumbles when a couple ambitious tricks grind things to a halt. When Anderson asks the synthesized orchestra to stop and "pick it up a little" it's effective if you're one of the few who hasn't heard Björk's version of "It's Oh So Quiet." Then there's the 15 minutes of silence with a little surprise somewhere in there at the end of the album, the final "aren't we cunning" straw. Télépopmusik know their way around a studio and can deliver a velvety soundscape that other trip-hoppers would die for, but trite lyrics and so many precious attempts at impressing make Angel Milk ponderous.