The Do - Both Ways Open Jaws

French/Finnish pop rock duo The Do finally see their second album ‘Both Ways Open Jaws’ released to UK ears, a whole eight months after its French counterpart. After securing a number one in the French album charts with their debut, ‘A Mouthful’, one does wonder exactly how much pressure the band was under when producing this follow up.

Thankfully for them, us and the record label, Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy have not strayed far from their roots, although offer a more light-hearted, poppy approach on their most recent release. On first listen, it is easy to draw direct comparisons with The Cardigans and Marina and the Diamonds, Merilahti’s voice soaring beautifully alongside Levy’s vast array of backing instruments. However, after a second, or even third, listen, one begins to see parallels with The Naked and Famous and Bjork; semi-concealed to the passive listener, the similarities only become apparent when absorbing the melodies. At this point, you’ve probably committed at least half the lyrics to memory

Highlights are ‘Gonna Be Sick!’ and ‘Too Insistent’; the former a delightfully forthright account of a steadily intoxicating love affair, with more than subtle nudges to The Kills, the latter a Polyphonic Spree-esque epic, which conjures up scenes of waterfalls and beautiful women weeping with despair. Each track is like a beautifully-crafted story, akin to a Brothers Grimm fairytale and set to an orchestral backing. If my word count for this album review was limited to just two words (a highly unlikely scenario, but please play along), then I would choose these: absolutely beautiful.