Psapp
Issue #28
The Only Thing I Ever Wanted (Domino)
By Garin Pirnia
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 5:09am
London duo Carim Glasmann and Galia Durant are Psapp, the electro-pop group best known for composing the theme song to the indie music-friendly show Grey’s Anatomy. On its 2004 debut, Tiger, My Friend, the couple initiated their lo-fi pop music by employing squeaky toys and various found sounds as musical instruments. This sophomore record doesn’t differentiate from their previous, full of the same child-like wonderment but is more of a mélange than the first.
Durant’s voice sounds akin to other female electro-pop vocalists like Dido, Imogen Heap, and Jem, though with a less commercial sound. The infectious opening track, “Hi,” allows the album to ascend with upbeat electro tinges and is reminiscent of a trip through Santa’s workshop with an array of pitter-patter glitches. “King of You” slows down the pace and integrates new-age elements and mellifluous keyboards. The organ on “Needle and Thread” gives off a samba beat with layered sounds and vocals.
The songs on The Only Thing I Ever Wanted alternate between pop and more thoughtful tracks like the grave “Hill of Our Home” and the piano-centric consolation of “Make Up.” Penultimate track, “Eating Spiders,” radiates with a continuous tribal drumbeat and a live ambience texture. With the verdant and harmonious “Upstairs,” the album ends with dreamy notes and the rhyming final thought: “I am not what I was or what I will be / There is no one guessing for me.”
Psapp’s music crackles and tingles with the perfect amount of reverie to curl up to.
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