Plastic Operator is the long-distance collaboration between London (by way of Montreal) based producer
Mathieu Gendreau and Antwerp-based singer
Pieter VanDessel, who created their debut album in the style of
the Postal Service, mostly working separately and posting unfinished ideas to each other via the Internet. Indeed,
Different Places has some of the electro-pop feel of
the Postal Service's
Give Up, but since the duo are coming at it from the opposite direction as their American counterparts (their roots are in vintage synth pop and dance music, not indie rock), there's even more of a cool futuristic sheen to tunes like the Vocoder-enhanced "Special Case."
Air's
Moon Safari and
Daft Punk are also worthy touchstones, but
Plastic Operator are far more interested in traditional verse-chorus-verse pop songs and catchy hooks than either of those acts, and they succeed handily in creating them. Three singles preceded the album -- "Folder," "Peppermint," and the requisite slow jam "Why Don't You," all included here -- and at least as many of the remaining eight tracks, especially the hyperkinetic "Another Sound," and the dreamy opener "The Pleasure Is Mine," could have followed them. At heart,
Different Places is a pure pop album filled with relentlessly tuneful songs that just happen to be performed on electronic instruments, making it a dance-pop record all but the most hidebound and synth-averse pop fans can get behind.