Six days and counting. Thats how long the melody to Boy You’re All Right has been stuck in my head for. Its still there, as I type, going round and round. In fact, its now becoming quite a burden. I blame Lily Allen personally, as she is responsible for re-igniting brother/sister duo Tupelo Honeys interest in making music. Before this, the pair had played around in bands in their native Sweden but had become disenchanted with the music industry. The catchy melodies and unpretentious lyrics of Miss Allens debut had struck a chord with Linn and Joel Edin and inspired them to create, quite frankly, one of the most impressive debuts I’ve heard all year. If you’re reading this and expecting Tupelo Honeys Salute You to sound like Lily Allen then think again. The only resemblance it has is taking the idea of a pop song and moulding it into something fresh and exciting. The Swedes have been doing this for years after all, Abba being a prime example. But more recently The Cardigans and The Wannadies.

The sound of a single chord played on a Farfisa organ opens the album with Seven O’Clock, that slowly builds with marching drums and shared vocal duties from the siblings. Joel’s voice grabs your interest immediately. It’s mournful and low yet filled with a hope and optimism that wins you over instantly. When paired with Linn’s sugary sweet vocal it becomes a thing of real beauty and wonder. Lead off single, and the offending song that has been haunting my dreams for the past six days is Boy You’re All Right. A classic, 3-minute pop song with more hooks than you can shake a stick at. It has it all, handclaps, love-lorn melody, shuffling drums and a simple boy meets girl sentiment you just can’t help but smile at.

It becomes apparent, in tracks like Andy, Are You Sure? and Le Grande that within the bands sound there is a huge debt to Arcade Fire, especially in the background wails from Linn that build a wall of sound within the tracks. The saving grace, and more importantly the originality, comes from the constant sense of optimism than runs throughout the whole album. Like fellow Scandanivans The Kissaway Trail, who also owe a debt or two to Arcade Fire, there is a wide eyed view of the world on display here that draws you in. A criticism here is that the huge, lush songs on offer can sometimes overpower the quieter more intimate moments of the record. Moonlight Serenade, as pretty as it is, is totally forgettable when put up against the bombastic Without My Princess or The Return Of The Weeping Man.

As a debut, this is as impressive as they come and for a band that were about to give up music entirely it can only be called a triumph. Whether it can stand repeated listens is debatable, after all there is a time and a place for music this saccharine, but for now it is a fine introduction to a charming duo who have the talent and ability to be as successful in the industry as their Swedish counterparts. Tupelo Honeys, I salute you!
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Links
Tupelo Honeys [myspace]