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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Emily Mackay

Caribou: Suddenly review – dreamy meanderings from Dan Snaith

Caribou
Caribou: ‘a cosmic retro chug.’ Photograph: Amber Elise Photograph: Amber Elise

It’s a decade since Canadian producer Dan Snaith’s breakthrough fifth album, Swim, saw him usurp Hot Chip as your dance tent go-to when it’s midnight at an indie festival and you don’t feel like heading back to the family camping area just yet. In recent years, though, Snaith’s work as Caribou has moved inward, his clubbiest impulses channeled towards his other alias, Daphni. His last Caribou release, 2014’s Our Love, explored the birth of his daughter and the shifting, subtle emotional trip of family life. Suddenly maintains that domestic focus: his mother’s voice graces the sparsely emotional opener, Sister, while the standout Like I Loved You blooms from moody, late 90s-R&B melancholy as it explores everyday insecurities.

Sonically, the album pulls a little from all Snaith’s previous work: You and I has a cosmic retro chug reminiscent of M83; Cloud Song and Magpie indulge his psychy soft side; the fizzing Ravi and housey Never Come Back provide straight-up bangers. As such, it can feel a little lacking in direction – honed down from more than 900 home experiments, it’s eclectic almost to a fault, though there’s enough to treasure among its dreamy meanderings.

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