Album Review: Boy - Mutual Friends

Released in Europe back in 2011, Boy's debut record has finally seen a worldwide release, which is strange considering these songs are far more in tune with the sounds of Australia and North America than they are to music traditionally associated with the cultural continent.

Either way, the tracks are of the timeless variety, meaning that dates are irrelevant. The duo – Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass – have created a record that invites you to sit by the living room fireplace with them. It's warm, homely and understated, the structural simplicity of the music allowing you to throw yourself into the record from the first spin. Waitress has a nice little bass bounce that gives the banjo a fun pickup; Little Numbers, meanwhile combines handclaps, piano and perfectly weighted “whoa-ohs” to create this affirming pop ditty that recalls Leslie Feist at her most celebratory.

But where the first half of the album hits, the second half misses, and the songs come off sounding like stock FM fodder. Waltz For Pony shoots for beauty but ends up with bland, while Skin is sharp and colourful but gets a bit lethargic after a few spins (no matter how enticing ice and gin sounds). Honestly, there's not a great deal different texturally and structurally with the latter songs – they simply just aren't as good.

There are some absolutely stand-out tracks on Mutual Friends where the Boy girls have just nailed folk pop in its purest form. But that is also the album's unravelling in the long haul, with extended listens highlighting a thin pool of ideas, albeit beautiful ones. Sweet and harmless, yet without a great deal of substance.