FOLK POP

Citing influences from Icelandic prog rock to choral music and film soundtracks, Tunng’s third album is a musical playground of varied sounds. Stand-out track ‘Bullets’ is a simple catchy pop number. ‘Hands’ and ‘King’ are gently beautiful songs, echoing Sufjan Stevens’ plinky-plonkly backdrops, and the chilled-out electronica of Air and Hot Chip. There is an experimental feel to the synthy instrumental ‘Soup’ (followed pleasingly by ‘Spoons’), and the tracks are punctuated by ambient sound and unusual percussion. But while these toys are fun, they are sometimes a needless distraction from songwriting that is strong enough to stand on its own.