Six Million Lp Selling, Quirky Icelandic Electro popsters Gus Gus make a welcome return in an altogether darker guise for their 6th studio album. 24/7 Sees the original trio reunited for the first time since their 4AD days and they have also acquired a new home, German uber-label Kompakt.

The change of label seems to have been beneficial, as the six track lp is a solid, atmospheric piece of electronica, helped in part by the excellent vocals of returning vocalist, Daniel Agust and in part by the wide sound-scapes created throughout the album through the use of heavily gated and reverbed analogue synths. The end result is a long player which, though patchy in places, when taken as a whole is a deep, immense and emotionally charged masterpiece.

Opener Thin Ice is probably not the greatest indication of this however. With an intro that seems to last a little bit too long leading in to a song that never really manages to get going it didn't bode well for the rest of the lp. Slick production and Agust's superb vocal range manage to carry the track, despite the insipid backing. Thankfully Hateful swiftly makes amends for this. At times sparse and at times huge, the track is an angst filled diatribe. It oozes class and emotion, truly a brooding piece of genius. Set against this is On The Job, inoffensive but with big shoes to fill, which it never really does, being possibly the albums weakest track. The song itself plods along nicely enough, with a pedestrian, almost workmanlike feel, but it's shortcomings are ultimately exposed in such exalted company as the rest of the album affords it.

Take Me Baby is a case in point. Featuring Jimi Tenor on guest vocals, a cool, incessant bass is married to a dark, electronic backing track. Bringing to mind Soft Cell or Depeche Mode, it is the albums most obvious single, coming in at just under four minutes. However it also works as the perfect intro for the next song, the outstanding instrumental, Bremen Cowboys. Acidic overtones alongside an old school drum track and huge analogue synth sounds create a cold stomping jack track with huge dance-floor potential. Closing the lp is the future classic, Add This Song, beautiful synths married to warm, uplifting vox make for possibly the perfect end to an almost perfect album.

Taken as a whole this LP is a piece of genius. Whilst there are two weak-ish tracks, it is possible that their weakness is only exaggerated by the strength of the other four tracks, which are all outstanding, working well on their own but also having unlimited potential for the inevitable slew of future remixes. A highly recommended long player, with enough to satisfy even the most jaded electronic music fan, this will surely be on many people's top ten albums list come the year's end.

Track List

1. Thin Ice
2. Hateful
3. On The Job
4. Take Me Baby (feat. Jimi Tenor)
5. Bremen Cowboy
6. Add This Song