Top Albums #3 – Caribou – Swim

It’s funny how this is one of my top albums of the year, yet I’ve had the hardest time writing about it.

As if it was bursting with energy trying to escape, Swim kicks off with an explosion at the beginning of the first song Odessa. From that moment on it’s impossible to not move with it. I challenge anyone listening to this album to keep themselves from dancing. It’s impossible. Dan Snaith just knows what it takes to get people moving.

A huge departure from Andorra, Swim ups the tempo in a big way. In fact I'm listening to it right now and its really quite difficult to sit still. This is one of those albums that has the ability to actually screw with your pulse and to make your heart beat along with it.

I almost feel that sticking this album in the electronic genre is too simplistic. It's so much more than what one genre can offer and comes off as one of the most musical albums of the year. Go listen to crap nightclub and you'll hear the difference with what they play, and what Caribou offers in return.

While it relying heavily on the use of synth, Swim uses an expansive use of instruments and its where the album really shines. A simple flute beat provides the backbone for Leave House. As the progresses it is slowly covered up with layers of other instruments, before one-by-one being stripped away reuniting the listener with that flute. On other songs like Kaili it’s the use of saxaphones and clarinets that really make the song stand out.

Also it comes down to the different sounds and instruments usually unheard of in popular music, that set this apart from any other album. On the instrumental Bowls, the song uses what I can only presume are bells to create a solid beat in the background. It comes down to that indescribable element that really makes you stand back and take note of what you’re hearing.

Snaith’s vocal work is spot on as well. Drifting through songs like Kaili while on others like Found Out, it's doubled up to give the song a little more substance. Midway through the album the lyrics begin to resemble those on his previous work. But while they’re rich and deep, they match the beat Snaith has set them up around them. The final song Jamela is the closest Caribous comes to his roots. But that resemblance is soon gone as the song builds to a massive climax before dropping away almost as abruptly as that explosion that kicked off the album.

I feel that I am in no way coming close to giving Swim the justice that it deserves, but it’s one of those albums that you have to hear for yourself. All I can say is that I have put this album on almost every time I have gotten ready to go out. It always leaves me energized and ready for what the night will throw my way.

Top tracks: Odessa, Found Out, Bowls, Leave House, Jamelia