And now for something completely different? You betcha…store away all your electric or acoustic guitars…and switch the rest over completely to electronics! Sure, most Concrete Web readers will now probably surf away from this page, having found out that thís Little Dragon, going on the bandname, is nót the kind of band they expected!

To those open-minded enough to continue to read, and curious enough to know exactly what this Gothenburg based band’s music might be like (or already having come across the band’s music through the self-titled debut offering of 2007), this is what you can expect: Electronic Pop (which takes influences from the likes of Prince, Depeche Mode, LCD Soundsystem, James Holden, and then also less specifically from Dancehall music, R&B, Jazz, and Soul. Needless to say, this kind of music has seen the band rather popular while touring the US, specifically on the West Coast, where they did sessions for KCRW’s popular Morning Becomes Eclectic show (prior to becoming the most played only after Radiohead. Not bad, seen as the band doesn’t even have a US based label! Debut album’s track “Twice” even got played on hit tv-show Grey’s Anatomy, and eventually the band came under the attention of David Sitek who asked LD to support TV On The Roadio on their US tour in May 2009. The band melds its influences into a mostly soothing whole, which is just the right vehicle for singer Yukimi Nagano’s frail but warm girlie voice. Starting from track N°7 (aka “Runabout”, which is also the only song with a slight musical remeniscence to Yukimi’s Japanese ancestry) the music doés liven up a bit, as do Yukimi’s vocals, but don’t expect her to start screaming, shouting or even using a harsh voice…nay, everything holds on to a certain serenity.

There IS however a noted difference between the first album and this one. For starters, the debut album was recorded at the and’s own leasure in their home studio over a rather lengthy period of time, and contains far more organic instrumentation (piano in stead of electronics, for instance)…but although the move towards more electronics is a deliberately chosen one, the main character of the music, which exhudes primarily from Yukimi’s somewhat etheric singing style, is still there on the forefront!

For a more comprehensive and complete history of the band’s members (besides Yukimi you’ve got keyboardist/ backing singer Häkan Wirenstrand, bassist/ backing singer Fredrik Wallin, and drummer/ backing vocalist Erik Bodin) and their connection to each other (which starts somewhere in the mid ‘90s), read the bio at little-dragon.se. To actually hear some lusic by the band, check out what’s posted myspace.com/yourlittledragon, where you can listen to the aforementioned “Twice” and no less than 5 songs off the new album! If you’ve read on thus far and are still curious, I would be surprised not to find you charmed by what you’re about to hear when surfing over to said MySpace page! At the moment (and that until Dec. 4) the band is yet again touring the USA, and at the very moment there’s no plans to have a European tour, apparently. I wonder…where would one be able to see a band such as this? The AB Club in Brussels, perhaps? Maybe even Trix in Antwerp…

90/100

Tony.