Seeland

Spending the last four years cultivating a sound formed out of the retro-futuristic scene in Birmingham, England, Seeland have followed up a pair of singles for Stereolab's Duophonic imprint with a proper full-length. The project of former Broadcast guitarist Tim Felton and Plone keyboardist Mark "Billy" Bainbridge, Seeland's labour of love has paid off with Tomorrow Today. Within their sound collage are loopy sound experiments akin to Joe Meek, the tape looping and synth manipulation of Heaven 17, and the shape shifting Kraut of Neu! (responsible for Seeland's moniker) but above all of their experimentation, Seeland are a bona fide pop group. The time spent in their previous bands is immediately apparent, as the duo share much of the same interest in building simple melodies from analogue electronic motifs, amorphous sound effects and multi-tracking. But for a pair of Brummies, Seeland transmit an unexpectedly sunny disposition in their layered sci-fi pop, as the flutter of "Captured" could be mistaken for something off Stereolab's Mars Audiac Quintet, while you could grab a quick tan from the warm vibes emitting from "5 A.M." Shrewdly composed and extraordinarily compressed, Tomorrow Today is as gracious and resonant as it is sophisticated.