Animal Kingdom Drops 2nd Album

Animal Kingdom released their second album yesterday - The Looking Away. This is the follow up to 2009's Signs and Wonders, and although they've kept their basic sound - emotive indie ballads sprinkled with some catchy pop touches - The Looking Away is a bit more upbeat than Signs and Wonders.

"Straw Man" reminds me a lot of a song you'd hear on Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism, slow and soulful with an overlying vocal seemingly crooned in moments of pure emotion. Conversely, the first single, "Strange Attractor" (which is becoming ubiquitous here in the States on TV shows that like to showcase new artists), resonates the catchy Brit-pop inspired sounds we're hearing from bands like fun. and Neon Trees. The other eight tracks are all somewhere in the continuum of these styles.

Although I've enjoyed the album on my first listens, and Strange Attractor has been an earbug since I first started hearing it on AltNation, the album overall lacks a definite progression and flow. The songs are all good in their own ways, but you could play this on shuffle and not lose the experience of the album itself. This is after all only a sophomore effort, but approach it with an attitude of enjoying the songs as a collection of singles.

Check out the official video for Strange Attractor here: