Pavo Pavo, the project by Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg, makes a psychedelic indie pop with some serious Flaming Lips vibes, that is fueled by the stormy relationship between the two artists. Their second album, Mystery Hour, is going to be one of candidates for the best album of the year in many rankings.
They call their music "a fever dream filled with cinematic imagery and rooted in acute emotion". There's no shortage of those emotions indeed, as the album is reportedly written under the influence of Hill and Bagg's long-term relationship's break up. It's audible in many places, there is the "mon cheri" phrase reappearing from time to time, in the intelligent lyrics (Close To Your Ego) and the dialogic vocal between Her and Him, all of those give us the unique opportunity to look into the protagonists' emotional life.
However, there wouldn't be any of Pavo Pavo's music if it wasn't for their ability to write extremely catchy songs. Some of them really sound as if it was something so natural that it almost wasn't a big deal (Mon Cheri, Check the Weather, The Other Half). But they are best in towards the finish, in my favourite Statue Is A Man Inside in which the band go beyond more and more psychedelic barriers and make music almost like Tame Impala would if the Australians left their heavy guitar sounds behind and turned to some charming pop.
Mystery Hour costs 7 GBP.
Check: Statue Is A Man Inside
Country: New York, US
Genre: psychedelic pop
