The Notwist: The Devil, You & Me

Label: Domino

It’s been a six-year wait between Notwist albums (fortunately we’ve had member Markus Acher’s Lali Puna project to tide us over), which is practically a generation in pop music terms, so it’s not surprising that there have been some changes. Nothing that alters the trio’s core values, though: insistent yet gentle beats, like mellow Neu updated for indie-rock; friendly, unpretentious vocals; an immediately identifiable mix of electronic production and song structures, sometimes with jangly guitars, sometimes without. The changes are largely in their array of sounds, much wider on some tracks thanks to collaboration with The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra and a few other guests. Often beautiful, always addictive, The Devil, You + Me was worth the wait. (Steve)