Napoleon IIIrd - Christiania

Like a lot of great follow-up records, Napoleon IIIrd’s Christiania makes you question just how good its predecessor was. In Dent To – the West Yorkshireman’s charming and ambitious D.I.Y. debut – was good, very good in fact. However, three years on it now sits somewhat anonymously in the background. By contrast, Christiania (named after a self-proclaimed autonomous ‘freetown’ in Copenhagan) is a bold step forward that aptly takes its cue from a commune uniquely broken away from a major city. It’s a bigger, more zealously-arranged piece of work that thoroughly begins to deliver on the ambition of what’s come before. With it, James Mabbett signals his intention to leave the bedroom behind and make a break for the big time.

Opening track and single ‘The Unknown Unknown’ sets the pace well, showing that while the rich melodies, smart lyrics and all-round creativity remain, the faint underpinning acoustics of In Debt To have been almost completely replaced by electronic sounds. These lay the ground for some very fine accompaniment, in particular from a standard of percussion that would make El Guincho envious. The opening four songs of Christiania are packed with energy as a result, with the exhilarating five-and-a-half minutes of ‘Leaving Copenhagen’ and the brief-but-brilliant ‘This Town’ wrapped around ‘The Hardline Optimist’, a belter that hardline Animal Collective fans should find difficult to resist. And while the slower-paced ‘Guys Just Wanna Have Sun’, instrumental ‘I Try’ and gently-building ‘Rough Music’ allow the listener a breath they don’t actually want to take, closer ‘Mtfu’ gets right back on the thrilling side of things and is up there with the best electronica produced by any of this year’s best of British.

At a time when teaming up melody with electronic music more often than not produces hit-and-miss chillwave, it’s all the more encouraging to have a small number mixing the two in a gripping and direct manner. That’s why you’ll hear Napoleon IIIrd deservedly mentioned alongside the likes of Panda Bear and Dan Deacon. If there is one complaint to be had here, it’s that at nine tracks and just over 35 minutes in length, Christiania is a little on the brief side. But as minor irritations go, wanting more isn’t a bad one, and you can be quite sure that Christiania will fade into the background once that arrives.