Little Red - Midnight Remember

Little Red's debut release Listen to Little Red etched itself firmly in the language of the Australian summer. There was something about  the infectious melodies, feel-good pop lyrics and that carefree rough-around-the-edges sound. Little Red could have just as easily come back in 2010 and released a sophomore album that captured that same vibe and had a ready-made chart-topper in their hands.

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Instead, Little Red ventured into the studio and emerged with something thoroughly different that sees them trade some of the 60s lo-fi sound -- not all of it mind you -- for a modern indie rock sound, packed with echoing guitars and tight, fast, is-that-a-drum-machine percussion. Those intricate vocal harmonies that made Listen To the standout album it was are no longer the focal point of the song; instead they form just one tight-fitting piece in an overall sonic jigsaw that makes Midnight Remember feel less like a collection of songs than a cohesive album.

If Little Red have anything to say about it, disco may is alive and well. The falsetto Forget About Your Man might well be what would happen if Radiohead covered Al Green. The anthemic Rock It follows with as much glamour as you're likely to hear out of today's indie scene; the simple but immediately catchy chorus "Rock it til the break of day / Don't stop rockin' now no way" is practically purpose-built for 10,000-odd person singalongs at summer festivals.

Midnight Remember is bigger than anything anyone could have expected from Little Red. The soaring arrangements showcase an intuitive ability as a band to create something far more than the sum of the individual parts. Place Called Love, with its Vegas big band arrangement is like a long-lost James Bond theme song, lines like "But if you want / Daddy's gonna love you" sung with so much conviction that you almost think that all the guys in the band didn't spontaneously bust out laughing in the practice session that yielded such lyrics.

Filled with Lanois inspired instrumentation and production Midnight Remember Little Red balance their way along that fine line between inspired and pretentious with ease. Grand when they need to be, but it's in softer moments that this band really show their dexterity. With a swift change in sound for the final four tracks, Little Red even manage to outdo themselves on the same album. The stark Follow You There builds from nothing to become an epic masterpiece far beyond its relatively short 3:47 run-time.

Little Red have succeeded in creating something that will surely be remembered as an integral part of the ongoing evolution of rock 'n' roll. Midnight Remember may well be the best Australian release of 2010.