Subtlety is a funny thing in music – too much of it and you end up being accused of boring the listener to sleep, while not enough and complaints of hurting ears can be heard. No such chance of that with the music of Erlend Oye, but some of the press that ‘Rules’ has come in for is harsh. For subtlety is at the centre of what the Whitest Boy Alive are about, and though that means you’d be hard pushed to remember some of the tracks on ‘Rules’, you come away with a general mood of contentment. Sometimes the band do up the emotional input, and the Daft Punk ripping of ‘1517’ is a funky twist, while Oye works well against guitars that often recall the dreamier side of The Cure, say Lovesong-era. If you don’t expect too much from this album, it will deliver – so while it’s not perhaps the stuff of ‘Dreams’, it’s a subtle charmer all the same.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
