After an internet leak The Dodos decided to bring forward the online release date of their third album Time To Die by a month to July 28th and even started to stream the album on their dedicated website from mid July.
It’s a difficult start to what is potentially a difficult album for the Californian three-piece. Coming after their 2008 release Visiter they certainly have a lot to live up to. Could they maintain the quirky folk, acoustic guitar and African drum sound that made Visiter their breakthrough album? Or would they attempt something different?
With Time to Die the answer is somewhere in between. They have kept the unmistakable Dodos sound in places but are clearly trying something new in others. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
It works a plenty with first single ‘Fables’. Beautiful melody, quirky edge and mainstream sound. ‘Fables’ encompasses fully the Dodos sound past, present and possibly future and it’s a damn good pop song as well.
Less effective is opening track ‘Small Deaths’, a meandering mess and the forgettable filler track ‘Troll Nacht’, which is the album’s longest at 6mins23.
Other stand out tracks include the absurdly catchy ‘The Strums’ and ‘Two Medicines’, which is similar to the Field Music stable of bands from Sunderland, UK, in particular The Week That Was.
Time To Die is also an album that bears more than a passing similarity to Apple Venus, the 2000 last album by new wave icons XTC. Others that have clearly listened to this album include Grizzly Bear, with this year’s releaseVecktamist.
Former Shins and Fleet Foxes producer Phil Ek has done a solid job reigning in the Dodo’s sound in places and protecting it in others on Time To Die. While there is an argument that the end product is perhaps too safe and too reigned in, overall there is much to like here and it provides the band with a solid platform to evolve.
Sure, Time To Die lacks some of the passion of Visiter, but especially with ‘Fables’ there is enough to please most Dodos’ fans and with the new commercial sound possibly bring on board some new admirers as well.
7.5/10
by Joe Lepper, Aug 2009
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