There was something lovely about the Concretes previous album. The Concretes worked because it was so effortless; something about it just made the songs come alive, ever so gently. In Colour is different.

Is it another good album? Oh yes. But it’s simply nothing as like as remarkable – the production from Mike Mogis is significantly punchier, and to a certain degree it just doesn’t work as well. A more jingly, upbeat vibe pervades In Colour, with the jaunty opener “On the Radio”. “Change in the Weather” finds fiddles and flutes joining into the mix, but the relatively straight pop charms of “Chosen One” and the strings-lead closers “Ooh La La” and “Song For the Songs” end up being the numbers that work best.

The main difference is that there was a bittersweet feel to The Concretes, whereas on In Colour the vibe is preternaturally chirpy. The more open feel of this effort makes lines like “Spend some time in the shade with me” on “Sunbeams” less effective. The fact that it’s repeated seemingly ad nausea, rendering the initial sentiment somewhat over saccharine. Typical of the sound, the Magic Numbers’ Romeo Stodart appear on “Your Call”, and it just doesn’t go anywhere, and it treacles through, when a 3:30 pop song should whip by.

Conversely, “Fiction” employs a touch of mid-70s Fleetwood Mac to build a 6 minute effort that is, well, effortless. Much in the same way that fellow Swedes the Cardigans released some very, very good tracks on middling albums, and a couple of all-over pearlers in First Band on the Moon, Gran Turismo and the recent Super Extra Gravity that the Concretes possess all the pieces. Now it’s just a matter of bringing it altogether again.