Album Review: Mitzi - Truly Alive

19 February 2013 | 10:09 am | Guido Farnell

The blissed out feel-good notes that Mitzi hit across this accomplished album make it the perfect soundtrack for those memorable good times.

As we swelter through the long hot summer, the Balearic indie disco of Mitzi's debut album feels like sipping on a glass of icy cold champagne at a pool party. The quartet from Brisbane follow in the footsteps of acts like Cut Copy and Miami Horror with feel-good electro pop. Sparkling synths, rubbery bass, insistent beats and falsetto harmonies combine on Who Will Love You Now to create a light and easy vibe. Smothered in shimmering synths, Mitzi's approach is feather light, soft and out of focus dreamy. Coming at us with a strong accent on smooth electro disco grooves, the band evoke memories of hedonistic nights spent in glamorously exotic clubs, with an electro pop sound that is starting to feel distinctly Aussie. The celebratory All I Heard features a solid disco house bump that is accompanied by percussive piano stabs, suggesting but never becoming old fashioned piano house. The title track Truly Alive turns the place into a proper dance party and is guaranteed to leave most listeners who bounce to this track feeling truly alive. In amongst the guitar jangle the lads contemplate the rubbish that is Modern Life with a chorus that is sure to elicit many sing-along moments when they play it live. Elsewhere, Down provides a serious dose of funky disco house with an indie pop spin that keeps the party moving. Building slowly, The End sees the lads donning their spacesuits to bring down the album on a fantastically hypnotic cosmic disco odyssey, which leaves us wishing it was much longer than just five minutes. The blissed out feel-good notes that Mitzi hit across this accomplished album make it the perfect soundtrack for those memorable good times.