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The third outing by Swedish indie-pop trio Miike Snow is as fun as it is jumbled. iii remains enjoyable for the most part, as it shifts from alt-pop via urban balladry to hip hop and beyond.
The album opens with the piano-driven numbers 'My Trigger', 'Genghis Khan' and 'The Heart of Me', the latter beginning with a catchy (if slightly grating) manipulated vocal hook, at which point you'd be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a new Iggy Azalea or early Justin Bieber track, but before long things shift into more experimental territory than your standard Top 40 pop hit. And this is to Miike Snow's credit.
Having spent last year in cahoots with mumbling uber-producer Mark Ronson, Miike Snow singer Andrew Wyatt's voice sounds stronger than ever on iii - his trademark falsetto holding up very well throughout.
Genghis Khan will probably endure the most of all the tracks from iii - it's as close as you can get to a typical Miike Snow sound: solid beat, lilting falsetto vocals and pristine production combine to make a brilliant pop song.
Another album highlight is 'Heart is Full', which demonstrates skilful crate-digging sampling, but it sounds like something else, like an offcut from My Dark Twisted Fantasy perhaps. Sure enough, the song features again later as a bonus track at the end of the album, this time with Run The Jewels delivering the much-needed verse of Kanye-esque bombast and lifts the track to new heights.
There's no doubting Miike Snow's talent for innovative production and sonic experimentation within the confines of a pop song, and Wyatt's performances shine throughout - but at times the mishmash of ideas means the album lacks cohesion. A good example of this is 'For U', featuring Charli XCX. There's a lovely melody in there, and the musical ideas behind the track are interesting - but all together it is quite a mess. With this record, Snow are looking to further stake their claim as forward-thinking alt-pop kings, using their knack for tackling many ideas and styles at once as their trump card. This has resulted in a great, if a little patchwork, third LP.
