Swedish singer Sarah Nyberg Pergament and British multi-instrumentalist Kevin Wright have worked separately for a number of years under a variety of project names on the fringes of the indie and twee pop scenes. Their first album together as the Dreamers draws on nearly all of the influences that have permeated this cinematic sub-sub-genre, from the European soundtrack composers of the '60s to the first wave of Brazilian bossa nova artists to the
Young Marble Giants' minimalist electronica to
Portishead and
Saint Etienne's subtle adaptation of dance beats. Pergament and Wright fuse all of these elements so well, in fact, that there's little room left for any new ideas of their own. Taken on a song by song basis,
Day for Night is like mother's milk for any self-respecting twee pop fan; Pergament's songs in particular (she and Wright alternate lead vocals) are simply lovely due to the guileless prettiness of her pleasingly unornamented vocal, although Wright's whispery, close-miked style is almost as appealing itself. It's just that over the course of the entire ten-song album, the duo's limitations become clearer: the songs rarely make that crucial leap from pretty to memorable. ~ Stewart Mason