See You in the Morning

Album review

Unmindful of current dance music trends, the U.K. duo Mint Royale continues to plow their own little electronica furrow. In many ways the big beat version of Saint Etienne, Neil Claxton and Chris Baker approach dance music from the perspective of indie rock fans. (Recall that the duo's first success came in collaboration with the now largely forgotten punky Britpop band Kenickie.) In much the same way that Saint Etienne expanded their sound while never losing sight of their original intentions, See You in the Morning finds Mint Royale exploring more overtly pop-oriented songs like the first single "Wait for You" and an oddball cover of the pop standard "Singin' in the Rain" (which was used in a TV commercial in 2005) alongside the explicitly dance-music tracks. There's still evidence of the group's earlier sound on songs like the stomping, diva-led "The Effect on Me," but overall, See You in the Morning suggests an interesting new avenue of exploration.

© Stewart Mason /TiVo