My Tiger My Timing - Celeste

My Tiger My Timing hail from New Cross – a gem in South East London that has previously gifted us with Blur, Klaxons, and James Blake from its large and eclectic range of creative residents. You can tell My Tiger My Timing have come from a hotbed of different musical influences, but far from being a hotchpotch of wildly plucked elements, they are carefully crafted here and all bond together cohesively. ‘Celeste’ is full of bold, glittering disco-pop, suited to the Parisian clubs, but with just a hint of reverb-soaked grit that brings them right back to dingy haunts of South East London.

Listening to this album indoors is a depressing practice – ‘Celeste’ seems custom built to enjoy out in the sunshine with a sizeable pitcher of Sangria and a BBQ on hand. This is not really a multifaceted album, though, and does not seem to dig much deeper than its meticulously polished surface. ‘I don’t want to bring you down’, husks singer Anna Vincent in ‘Honest’, and this resounding lack of gloom seems a fitting mantra for ‘Celeste’. ‘Wasteland’ features a bit of suitably desolate imagery like ‘your hopes are in the quicksand’, but other than that, along with the rest of ‘Celeste’ it’s resoundingly cheerful. With some pulsing drums, twangy guitar interjections and the occasional twinkle of synths, it’s a straightforward affair, but good fun nonetheless. Previously a single for the band, ‘Written In Red’ is a strong track too, and also sounds about to explode with optimism. The playful guitar riff, along with a calypso drum flavour means it would be well at home as an entry to the Eurovision Song contest, but it’s a wonderfully guilty pleasure.

‘Celeste’ perhaps lacks in variety, but this is by no means a criticism. So many albums crash and burn because they are a disorganised mêlée of confused ideas – ‘Celeste’ is the model of sheer consistency. My Tiger My Tiger do slightly edgy disco-pop extremely well. This, and the fact that Niki and the Dove have already warmed us up to smooth, sultry pop means that ‘Celeste’ will be received very well, and the Tigers do indeed have timing on their side. While this album might have an inbuilt potential to send you longing for sunnier climes – which could be problematic come winter - right now the sun is shining, and this couldn’t be a better soundtrack.