The Concretes

The Concretes

The Concretes

(Astralwerks)

My first attempt to play this debut from the Swedish eight-piece is a blur after track four. Mind wandering, I picked up a book for 30 minutes before realising the album had finished. The novel wasn't particularly good, nor the album bad. Both were no more than pleasant diversions.

It took The Concretes 10 years to release their first full-length album, in which time they've grown from an all-girl trio to an ensemble that peaked at nine members.

A decade on the road and three years of recording The Concretes allows the band to land with polished yet fresh European soul. But it's also smoothed over the edges that might lift a head from a novel or set one track apart from another.