Clean Bandit’s New Eyes (try not to think about Brand New Eyes) is one of the most hotly-anticipated electronic albums of the year. The popularity of their first couple of singles, ‘Mozart’s House’ and ‘Dust Clears’ was quickly outdone by 2014’s massive ‘Rather Be’, which has since been played non-stop everywhere from Bridge to Barcelona.
The album is wonderfully crafted, with the bizarre but beautiful marrying of electronic and classical influences which was so brilliant on ‘Mozart’s House’ notable throughout. This track, the first on the album, is still arguably their best song, and having it open the album is an important nod to their original success. With the lyric “Tan my face with that paggiato”, who could claim that ‘Rather Be’ is better?
More ambitious than Disclosure, but a bit less weird than Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, it draws upon both these giants of electronic music to great effect. Combinations of robotic Auto-Tune and female vocals complement their excellent instrumentation, which includes steel drums, and not even in a shit way.
Apart from the excellent singles, title track ‘New Eyes’ is a definite highlight, featuring Lizzo, a female rapper set to finally get the recognition she deserves in 2014.
