The Long Goodbye by The Capsules (Album)

Electropop act The Capsules take just 11 months to return with an album that’s even better than their last one

ast year The Capsule’s returned with their first album in five years. Continuing with the electropop format that has served them so successfully since they evolved from the ashes of shoe-grunge act Shallow, Northern Lights & Southern Skies was well worth the wait. Now, though, less than 12 months since that record was digested, The Capsules have returned with an even better body of work.

Opening with the fittingly named The Beginning, The Long Goodbye has an even more marked electronic tinge than its predecessors. With its glacial bleeps and seductive synth tones, echoes of Atoms For Peace and The Postal Service can be heard bouncing back from the walls. Indeed Julie Shields vocals even have the same gracious and erudite affection that’s marked Ben Gibbard’s career.

This similarity to Sub Pop’s highest selling album of the noughties is not restricted to the opening number. The records two highlights Death Of A Comet and the deliciously catchy Monsters could sit happily on The Postal Service’s solitary masterpiece Give Up. There are other influences at play, though. Super Symmetry sounds like a more resigned Enon, opting to close in on itself rather than break out, while the title track has the ambient qualities of Baths and Youth Lagoon. There are even touches of Still Corners during the album’s more opaque moments.

The Long Goodbye is a superb collection of songs, one that sees The Capsules happily established as much more than a musical phoenix. With its moody electronica and misty ambience, it’s a record that’s wonderfully out of place during the summer months; one that will paint the night sky with stars.

Verdict: Deliciously moody synth-pop

Damien Girling

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