North Atlantic Oscillation – Fog Electric

It's fitting that North Atlantic Oscillation’s second album, Fog Electric, was produced by Tony Doogan, best known for his production work for Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian, and Super Furry Animals: their music embodies elements of each of these bands. Theirs are modern pop songs on a grand scale, playful, and slightly odd.

Empire Waste begins with a rising electronic hum and unadorned vocals before toppling under a wave of programmed beats, squelching synthesisers and computerised voice. Expert With Altimeter pipes in distorted guitar before cutting to soft keyboard notes and Sam Healy’s pleading vocals. The oceanic metaphors are not accidental: there is a ‘storm-at-sea’ theme throughout Fog Electric. This is evident in both the lyrics (“Floating on the peaks of your wake/That the ocean took back”, “I want fair weather”, “They’re holding back the storm”) and the music, as songs ebb and flow like the tide.

At times, the heart of the song can get lost amongst the numerous sea changes and catalogue of samples that populate each track; in places, a simpler presentation of the song would be hugely beneficial. Yet there's a lot to recommend Fog Electric: the songs are generally strong, and there are moments of brilliance and genuine beauty to be found in the eye of North Atlantic Oscillation’s storm.