Tanlines - Highlights

Tanlines
Highlights
2015

The second album from Brooklyn Electropop darlings Tanlines teeters on the border of a super slick homage to the 1980s pop so in vogue today and a cringe worthy copy of a style we hoped would never return. On an almost track to track basis you find yourself balancing on this edge not knowing if the next song will be something transcendent like "Pieces" and "If You Stay" or something bland like "Two Thousand Miles". It seems like Highlights is the most successful when Tanlines open themselves up and really let the electropop fly, the tracks where the act with more restraint or follow a more traditional path is where the record really stumbles. It really is about a half and half split between the songs that truly work and those that don't, which in fairness is not a bad batting average for a sophomore release.

The lyrics on this record are often an issue. "Nobody wants to be alone/sitting by themselves watching falling snow" is just one example of the super sugary lyrics that are so clawingly sweet that they are hard to take. When this type of lyric writing is backed up against a very silky smooth electropop style it can be a real issue for the listener and often just be to much of everything. In the end Highlights stays in the middle of the road; half pretty darn good and half not great. This is one album where the singles have a great deal more potential then the full album, not one to miss but it won't be a treasured classic.

6 out of 10