Following their 2013 debut full-length
At Home, Greek indie electronic pop duo
Keep Shelly in Athens lost singer Sarah P. and switched record labels, moving from Cascine to Friends of Friends. New vocalist Myrtha sounds a bit more airy and slightly less
Sarah Cracknell-esque than Sarah P., but it's unlikely that most listeners will notice the difference, especially given how much echo her vocals are bathed in. Musically, the duo step back and reconsider their approach a bit, cutting down on the more bombastic tendencies of their previous album (such as dubstep beats) while keeping the dreaminess intact, resulting in an album that is far shorter and more focused than its predecessor. As ever, they maintain an enthusiasm for incorporating different styles of music into their sound, ranging from the upbeat new wave of "Silent Rain" to the hip-hop beats and scratching of "Hunter." "Hollow Man" rides a lightly rolling drum'n'bass beat, successfully resurrecting the late-'90s atmospheric jungle of LTJ Bukem and
Peshay. Perhaps the album's most impressive, risk-taking moment is "Line 4 (Orange)," which combines a slowed-down, stretched-out Italo-disco synth bassline with dubby drums and atmospheric effects, along with tape-warped vocals that strangely sound like Gregorian chanting at times.
Keep Shelly in Athens' second album retains the creative spirit that made their early EPs so intriguing. ~ Paul Simpson