Love Is All – A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night

Four years on from their blog-adored debut, ‘Nine Times That Same Song’, Love Is All return with a new outing, ‘A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night’, minus their original saxophonist and a slightly more mature sound. Almost. Front lady Josephine Olausson’s voice retains that same short stating, desperate tone in its yelp. A voice which, at times, wouldn’t seem out of place coming out an old woman’s mouth. The sweetness of the vocals blend perfectly with the merry, light hearted instrumentation.

Their noise has been described as a “blend of art punk and indie rock”, but on the new record, something is most definitely different. The aspect of art punk is indeed decipherable, but on tracks such as ‘A More Uncertain Future’, we’re feeling Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews. Everyone remembers that duet, right? Shudder. It is this one track that really stands out, and that’s mainly down to a traumatic pop past. ‘A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night’ is a pleasant album, but nothing really makes it grab your attention. You put it on, you press play and then you go and watch tv. Give it maybe a couple songs first…

The highlight takes a saxophone shape, for it is probably this instrument that sets them aside, this instrument that gave them a name, made them stand out? Whatever the case, it’s probably this instrument that got them the second album deal.