Sweet Dreams Nadine

Album review

When Burt Bacharach passed away in February, it seemed unlikely anyone would pick up the mantle of easy-listening lounge pop, but here is the Brooklyn trio Sweet Dreams Nadine doing just that, on "Something on My Mind," the opening track from their second album and first since changing their name from just Nadine. The entire record traffics in that retro, breezy, comforting vibe—adding a little bossa nova flair and Cardigans sass on "Weird Love" or a percolating rhythm on carefree "Painted Blue" that communicates a longing for the hope that sunlight brings: "It's been so long/ Since I got some/ Sun on my shoulders/ Bring me some sun … Bring me some love," Nadia Hulett sings, her voice like warm butter. She slips on a chanteuse guise for "Make Good," effortlessly gliding through the spare first verse—as a background hum sounds like it's trying to tune in a station from another planet. Then the chorus kicks in, the percussion and tooting synth emphasizing her intentions as she warns, "You're going to have to make good." It all slows down at the end, letting Hulett swagger out of the song as she puts a last shot of heat into her message. "Not Callin' Out" is late-night jazzy, kissed with buoyant tone-plate sounds and pleasantly melancholic piano, Hulett elasticizing the word "out" with a fanciful flair, luxuriating over the vowel sounds ahead of the calmest cacophonic jam ever, fluted trills and all. "Track Star" matches girl-choir sweetness with brooding bass, and it's a kick when guitarist Carlos Hernandez takes over the vocals—so unexpectedly deep but hushed as he sings, "All the stories that I know/ Are memories." Harry Nilsson-inspired "Off the Coast of Mexico" sways like a boat on calm waters, full of buried giggles and whispers about a trip to Duluth, before a storm starts to blow in, deeply bellowing but still distant. "Center of Wheel" sounds grounding and reassuring, allowing Hulett to safely try a Björk playfulness, flitting like a bird, breaking on some words and stretching to falsetto. And "Indigo" borrows a drum loop sampled from Fleetwood Mac's "Prove Your Love," which drummer Julian Fader calls a "Christine McVie banger," and gives it a slight Nashville twang. Even Bacharach went country every now and then. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz