Album Review: Unicorn by Chew Lips

Though they need to rethink that terrible name, up-and-coming Londoners Chew Lips are a likeable bunch – their aim is to make "music that sounds so dated it doesn't date", and on their debut they've fulfilled the brief. Unicorn is 32 minutes of the bippety-boppety electro sounds that defined 2009, making it feel both contemporary(ish) and retro, with the fleshy vocals of one-name singer Tigs comprising the selling point. She's a commanding frontwoman, imparting gravitas to wilfully obscure lyrics ("It's your high-speed chase on your wedding day, give and take are all the same") and warmth to a canvas of frosty clicks and bleeps.

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Oh no, not another glibly titled electro-pop outfit? Not more bedroom wannabees bringing tinny tunes and boring beats? More synth-geeks who have inexplicably managed to persuade a pretty lady to voice their Moog masturbation sessions? Well, oh no, actually, it’s not. Unlike Kitsune label mate La Roux, you won’t be embarrassed to have Chew Lips in your record collection by September. Simply by being, y’know, interesting, they have attained perhaps the highest accolade this brand of electro-pop has to offer, in that no songs on this album will ever become ringtones and it would all sound faintly ridiculous emanating from anything with a spoiler; too subtle for subwoofers, thank god.

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Wow. [a]Chew Lips[/a] must be made of stern stuff. Having knocked out one of the most effortless, irresistible singles of 2009 with ‘[b]Solo[/b]’, then following it up with the just-about-as-amazing ‘[b]Salt Air[/b]’, the London trio have included neither of those songs on their debut album. Such cojones suggest they know they’ve got more where those came from.

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Chew Lips. Say it. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Still, it’s one of those names that’s so bizarre you won’t be able to help but remember it, regardless of the kind of music they make or how good they are. Depending on your mood, it could sound like a flower or it could sound like cannibalism.

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London trio take electro-pop to new places. Camilla Pia 2010 Last year both Little Boots and La Roux carved their mugs into the musical rockery, and as we write, 2010 is predicted to belong to Ellie Goulding. So you could be forgiven for feeling a little shoulder shruggy about British born lady-led electro-pop. Haven’t we heard quite enough for now? Chew Lips say no.

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