I've always been fond of Drugstore, but never found it easy to explain exactly why. "El President" was my introduction to them, one of those songs that I liked a lot in the late 90s and which has turned out to be genuinely great; its album, 1998's White Magic for Lovers, struck a perfect indie-pop balance between lightness and noise, while their self-titled 1995 debut had been in similar terrain but less fully formed. 2001's Songs for the Jet Set went in a slightly different but equally pleasing direction, focusing more on expansively acoustic, folk-y sounds, and filled with memorable, downbeat/tuneful songs.
And then, a long hiatus, until Anatomy, which actually came out last year but (unsurprisingly) completely slipped below my radar, and it's another good one. The band are, in a (figuratively) minor key kind of way, a bit of a touchstone for me; there are stronger elements of something alt-countryish to the sound this time around, a deliberately heavier, murkier hue to their sound, but the music is unmistakably theirs, particularly in the way they construct their melodies and in Isabel Monteiro's singing of them. Favourites: "Lights Out", "Aquamarine" - but it's one of those records with the feel of depths, promising new, less obvious discoveries on each further listen. A subtly, understatedly lovely album.
And then, a long hiatus, until Anatomy, which actually came out last year but (unsurprisingly) completely slipped below my radar, and it's another good one. The band are, in a (figuratively) minor key kind of way, a bit of a touchstone for me; there are stronger elements of something alt-countryish to the sound this time around, a deliberately heavier, murkier hue to their sound, but the music is unmistakably theirs, particularly in the way they construct their melodies and in Isabel Monteiro's singing of them. Favourites: "Lights Out", "Aquamarine" - but it's one of those records with the feel of depths, promising new, less obvious discoveries on each further listen. A subtly, understatedly lovely album.
