TAHITI 80 - THE PAST, THE PRESENT & THE POSSIBLE
(Human Sounds)

Tahiti 80 have been around for almost twenty years now, without ever really making a significant impact – you won’t see them named as leading lights in any scene during that period. Their dedication to keeping going in the face of such indifference is admirable, but I doubt if The Past, the Present & the Possible is going to rocket them into the big leagues any time soon.

Not that this is a bad album. In fact, the eleven songs on here all share a genuine pleasantness – a slightly trippy, definitely summery, chill out vibe (which I might not have responded to fully on a wet day in February!), and it’s certainly foot-tapping stuff. However, nothing really stands out – it feels like the sort of album that you’ll play and then more or less instantly forget. Each track might work individually, but listened to back-to-back, they tend to all feel a little samey.

The production is glossily smooth, the performances excellent – though frontman Xavier Boyer is, I'm afraid, pretty passionless, singing everything in a one-note indie wussy boy manner – you suspect that some of these tracks would be more memorable with more emotive singing. As it is, the word ‘bland’ keeps unfortunately coming to mind.

This is a pretty, entirely listenable album. Whether you’d choose to listen to it again, other than as background wallpaper, is open to question though.

DAVID FLINT

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