Album Review: Dappled Cities - Lake Air

Firstly – just to get it out of the way – the new Dappled Cities single, Born At The Right Time, has got to be one of the most infectious Australian tracks in recent memory. Immediate, addictive and wielding several hooks visible from space – if the music world practised any form of linear justice Born At The Right Time would be as big (if not somehow bigger, if that's even possible) than a certain W De Backer piece that will remain unnamed for now. Slim chance unfortunately – although you get the feeling that Tim Derricourt and co wouldn't be too devastated. In fact, with their latest album, Lake Air, Dappled Cities seem to have finally found comfort in the space pop niche they've spent three albums creating for themselves.

Kicking off with first single, Run With The Wind, Lake Air finds the band in a more autonomous, even reflective mood than we're accustomed to from them. While he's not quite hitting elder statesmen status yet, Derricourt seems to be finding lyrical inspiration in nostalgia here. No longer interested in the chaos and tumult of the party (best demonstrated on Zounds' vampiric The Night Is Young At Heart), tracks such as Real Love (“too much, too real, too young to feel real love”) and the aforementioned single see him coming off more as a morning-after observer, simultaneously cynical and joyful. It's a good fit for all involved and on several occasions the line of paranoid euphoria in which Dappled Cities have always dealt so well combines with this new outlook to startling effect. They've lost some of the studio tomfoolery of previous efforts but this just serves to bring the songs to the fore, most evident on the effortlessly pretty title track. Lake Air is another triumph from one of our best.