Salim Nourallah's now decade-long career, counting his initial duo effort with his brother, has confirmed him as a particular kind of modern pop classicist, at once plenty aware of an understated power pop tradition that has accrued over the decades and perfectly at home in the gentle indie rock world of the 21st century in turn.
Constellation balances out these sides well enough, and if
Nourallah's work succeeds at being engagingly pleasant rather than breathtakingly original, he still demonstrates his skill readily throughout. At its peppiest, as on "Western Hills" and "It's Not Enough,"
Nourallah fully brings the power pop jones to the fore, while "Love Is All Around" -- not a
Troggs cover, despite the name -- almost feels like a gentle version of the "Merry Christmas (War Is Over)" performance by John & Yoko. There's a little more sting at points, as with the electric guitar crunch on "In the Blink of an Eye," but otherwise steadily easygoing is the goal throughout. ~ Ned Raggett