Club 8

By the time most bands get to their eighth album, they're recycling old ideas, but at least Club 8 have the good sense to do it with a certain amount of style. Above The City harkens back to their earlier days, when life was simpler and they leaned more towards the electronic realm. The music sounds deliberately dated, in part because it was produced using older software. This is immediately obvious on "I'm Not Gonna Grow Old," which nods to Rick Astley and might have some questioning whether they're being Rickrolled. The record works best when the songs are stripped down to just sparse, clinical synths and the voice of Karolina Komstedt, with these moments sounding less contrived and satisfyingly darker in tone, such as the superb "Stop Taking My Time." In contrast, the interludes and instrumentals only serve to interrupt the flow of the record, and it becomes clear the album is a bit of a mixed bag. The highs are wonderfully high, but it's one of the less consistent entries in their extensive discography.