Theme Park - Is This How It Starts?

It would be fair to say Theme Park don’t like to rush things. By the time they got around to releasing their self-titled debut in early 2013 it was nearly two years since their hyped-up 2011 breakthrough. A lifetime in band years. Four years to follow it up? Just who’s going to remember them?

That’s something that might suit the north London trio well - rather than begging for comparisons with their early buzzy singles, ‘Is This How It Starts?’, as its name hints at, could be Theme Park’s way of starting anew in all but name. With the help of producer pal Fryars, they’ve taken the synths to 11, Miles Haughton’s vocals taking a back seat almost at times. At its best, there’s plenty of Friendly Fires’ Hawaiian shirt-wearing party-starting: ‘You Are Real’ is a beast, while ‘Never Ending Story’ a 90s house-aping stomp of a track.