JJ

Sweden's Sincerely Yours has established itself as an innovative and oft-anonymous crew of collaborators led by Tough Alliance members Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund. With a string of Balearic pop records that evoke a sense of escape not felt since Club Med commissioned Ottawan's "Hands Up," the label now brings us mysterious group JJ. A follow-up to March's two-song no 1 EP, debut album no 2 is a light-headed 28 minutes geared for a cordial badminton tourney on white sands. Taking a page out of Saint Etienne's book (especially "Avenue"), JJ are charming in the art of making a range of genres sound right at home. "From Africa to Málaga" slips in some Afro polyrhythms without sounding trendy, "Ecstasy" is a post-acid house come down that suggestively lifts a beat from Lil Wayne and "My Hopes and Dreams" gallops to the breezy, blue-eyed beach pop of label-mates like TTA and Air France, not to mention borrowing a lyric and melody from Taylor Dayne in nakedly acoustic closer "Me & Dean." A painstakingly perfect album if I ever did hear one.