Puzzles Like You Out Now
21 June 06
Puzzles Likes You is released this week, and although it's Mojave 3's fifth album for 4AD, the band have never sounded more energetic. The record is more immediate - poppy, even - than anything Neil Halstead and co have come up with before now. The album is filled with the life-affirming light of Mojave 3's Cornish home - splashed with sunlight and the heady sparkle of summertime waves. And the songs, taking their cue from the soaring lead-off single "Breaking The Ice", fizz past, brimming with renewed confidence.
The mixes are rich and transparent so that the melodic lilt of tracks like "Puzzles Like You", "Running With Your Eyes Closed" and "Big Star Baby" shines sweetly through, while the classic Halstead ballads "Most Days" and "You Said It Before" are as warm as they are wistful, as engaging as they are introspective.
In short, Puzzles Like You is the most approachable, infectious and downright fun record that Mojave 3 have ever made - as you might guess from the exuberant artwork and the marvellously quirky video for "Breaking The Ice". The NME described it as "Mojave 3's Great Leap Forward" - why not download the Mojave 3 Quicktime Player and check Puzzles Like You out for yourself ?
Failing that, you can see the band on terrestrial UK televison this week. Mojave 3 recorded a special performance for The Album Chart Show which is being broadcast on Channel 4 this weekend.
The band are also in session on Tom Robinson's Evening Sequence on BBC 6 Music show all week. You can listen to the shows any time you like via the BBC website.
