Rumskib, self-titled

reviewed by dave heaton

The self-titled debut album of the Danish duo Rumskib (Keith Canisius and Tine Louise, with help from Jonas Munk aka Manual) opens with an explosion of color: multiple cans of paint kissing in mid-air. Or, more accurately, with hazy but vivid pop-rock built of odd sounds, pure energy and bright melodies, not unlike the most alert and rapturous moments of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.

"Dreampoppers Tribute," one song is called, and it could be the album title, or a few-word review: dreampoppers pay tribute to dream-pop. The style is familiar, but no less special for it, especially considering how enthusiastically it's played, how lovely the atmosphere, how pretty the melodies, and how the songs are constructed with a spirit of adventure and joy. Not to mention how striking Louise's voice is, even within a storm of sound; how lush and romantic the overall sound is; how wonderfully calm the music can be in places, and how explosive overall; how many attractive instrumental details there are…guitars and layered voices, especially.

And it isn't just about track construction, about architecture or even impressionism. A song like "Springtime" has the crashing, winning power of a pop single, an anthem, with its hook "Springtime / I want you / in the springtime." That's something special, when a song can be correctly described as an overwhelming rush of sound, a waterfall…but at the same time it leaves you singing a simple hook, singing it for the rest of the day.

{www.darla.com}