JUNIOR BOYS Vinilo y CD

Review: Fans of luxurious, bittersweet, grown-up synth-pop rejoice - Junior Boys are back with their first album in six years! The Canadian twosome's music has lost none of its depth and sparkle, with Waiting Game containing the same key ingredients as its predecessors - namely dreamy, warming chords, soft-focus drum machine rhythms, melancholic melodies, occasional guitars and the distinctive, evocative vocals of front man Jeremy Greenspan. It's a formula that rarely fails if truth be told, so it's no surprise to find that Waiting Game is a genuinely strong set. Our picks of a very strong bunch include the simmering, sunset-friendly warmth of the CD-closing title track and the hushed, ultra-deep shuffle of 'Night Walk', where bubbly electronics, woozy pads and lo-fi electronic drums catch the ear.

Review: If you've ever fallen for the mythical Lewis album L'Amour, you'll probably get off on this. First thing's first, the two are very, very different records - Lewis' work is so soft and quiet at times it comes close to no longer existing, but the whole thing has this romantic, skin-on-skin by candlelight, whisper-in-ear quality to it that seems to go straight for the heart and make itself a home right there.

Junior Boys' Waiting Game isn't anything like L'Amour in terms of sounds, but that same sense of getting very close and very personal with what you're listening to, a record that's soon to be your lover, pervades everything here. Certainly more in the opening tracks, 'Night Walk''s warm, spring evening in Miami vibe, 'It Never Occurred To Me' and its strange, staccato use of vocoder'd lyrics and gliding refrains. Electro synth for the bedroom, no less.

Review: Canada's Junior Boys have been running the synth-pop game since the late 90s and, in our eyes, they're as fundamental to the scene as other outfits like Hot Chip or Simian Mobile Disco. They are now made up of Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus, and this time they return with a follow-up EP to their recent album for Christof Ellinghaus' City Slang. "Yes" is a delightful pseudo-house number with the boys' vocals riding the crest of the wave, and "Baby Fat" feels like a natural progression thanks to its soft house beats and watery lyrics. The B-side features "Some People Are Crazy", a sublime electronica piece with a sunken, moody tone that encapsulates them perfectly as a group, while "Kiss Me All Night" flaps its stuttering beats and sonic waves to a rigged husk of vocals. Bang.

Review: Matt Didemus and Jeremy Greenspan are back with their first album in five years for City Slang entitled Big Black Coat and this is the remix of the title track issued through Dan Snaith's Jiaolong label. The "Album Version" itself is a sublime and infectious serving of modern synthpop done like only this Canadian duo can. The "Robert Hood Remix" (yes, you've read that correctly!) is definitely the most fierce and club ready rendition the duo have shown us since Marcel Dettmann's terrific remix of "Work" from 2009's Begone Dull Care LP. Mr. Hood's pounding and cyclical hypnotism is unmistakeable as always and he's in fine form here.