Album Review: Andorra by Caribou

As Dan Snaith became an accomplished producer with his Manitoba and Caribou albums of the 2000s, the breathtaking vitality of his early work gave way to music that may have been more accomplished, but was never as interesting or as fun to listen to. Andorra is just the kind of break with the past that he needed after 2005's relatively lackluster The Milk of Human Kindness. His first album on Merge, it's less a collection of innovative sounds and productions (like The Milk of Human Kindness) and more an album of songs, united by his motivations and desires.

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Review Summary: Daniel Snaith finds structure for his latest batch of machinations.I like to imagine there is a box in Daniel Snaith’s bedroom, plain and unadorned, approximately the size of a small concrete block. Inside the box, there is another box and within that nested box, there is a tiny tree that blooms a variety of chromatic miniature fruits.Some evenings, Snaith opens his box. He opens the box within his box as well, plucking the ripest fruit from whatever branch sags most.

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Heard blind, you’d never know that Andorra is the work of a musician who made some minor waves in the IDM community. While there’s plenty of evidence that contemporary electronics helped realize this music, what hits your ears first is its debt to songs that were written 40 years ago. Opening track “Melody Day” kicks things off with a brisk beat and flute-festooned melody that the Supremes might not have minded using.

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