Jim Noir - All Right

Jim Noir's wistful breeze-laden pop has been noticeably absent for a while now and surely missed around these here parts. There was a time when you couldn't step out of the house or turn on the TV without hearing a track from his debut album Tower Of Love (try eating a Ginsters pie without getting My Patch in your head!).

Thankfully Jim's now back with the first new material from his second album and boy has he thrown up the unexpected. The Super Furry Animals are an obvious influence and a band who have been name-checked in reviews of Noir's previous output, but here we see the inspiration in full effect on lead track All Right.

All Right is robot-freak-pop; it's all Vocodered vocals, Beach Boys harmonies (a heavy feature on most Noir tracks) and swooping Air inspired synths. But things aren't as predictable or boring as that may sound, the hybrid is definitely a sound he can call his own.

The b-sides are also a varied bunch showing how wide Jim's pallette can stretch; from the 60's pyschedelia, quirky lyrics and ethereal vocals of Find Mind Grind, to the stomping Doves-like Standing On A Corner and the electro-hop of EP closer Don't Turn The Music Down. Noir has his finger in many pies and it results in a truly diverse, but most importantly, fun listening experience.

If this is the sound of Jim Noir just being "all right", then imagine the genius of the music he could make at his very best.

Track Listing:

1. All Right (watch the video)
2. Standing On A Corner
3. Find Mind Grind
4. Don't Turn The Music Down