Acid House Kings – Music Sounds Better With You

Acid House Kings have been indie-pop darlings for nearly two decades now, and by this stage could likely knock out gorgeous, heart-on-sleeve melodies in their sleep. Their fifth album feels so by-the-numbers that you might suspect it was indeed dispatched whilst napping, but the shiny exterior belies five long years spent tinkering in the studio.

Unfortunately, at some point, it seems the refinement changed from perfectionism to detrimental obsession. Music Sounds Better with You is best experienced in single-song doses, but for all its superficial highs this is likely to leave listeners craving something scuffed and off-the-cuff; something that doesn’t just sing about beating hearts but audibly has one at its core.

If the studio time had been spent experimenting with their blueprint or crafting an elaborate triple album, the lengthy gestation might be understandable. But at barely half an hour of same-old, same-old, it’s both too much and not nearly enough.