Morr Music didn't invent indie-infused electro-pop, but the German label put an indelible stamp on it over the last decade. Three of its definitive bands-- the Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, and Lali Puna-- share members, not to mention a knack for emotive electro-acoustic melodies. But each band has its own angle. The Notwist go for the broadest appeal, and tend to hit big or mildly miss. T&T is the most obscure, in both style and profile. Lali Puna is the most polished and consistent. Their music is reserved, in a way that seems old-fashioned: more like Stereolab in the 1990s than the demonstrative electro-pop of today.
Lali Puna's first album in five years dials down the guitar from Faking the Books, although it's still there, along with live drums, creating an organic undertone. The music is sophisticated and low-impact, and makes you marvel that Lali Puna is ever described as an experimental band. That must come from their judicious use of vocal effects, like the shivering "ohs" looped on "Remember" and the underwater distortion of "Everything Is Always". But really, they never use any gestures that aren't entrenched in pop's vocabulary. The occasional skipping-record synths or trip-hop beats aren't cracking any heads open in 2010 either. They don't intend to. Instead, the electronic interventions strengthen the effortless-feeling melodies.
But there is something internal about Our Inventions. Valerie Trebeljahr's lyrics are well-turned and unobtrusive; they register and instantly dissolve. Paired with her unornamented vocal style, she blends seamlessly into her surroundings; her voice carries the same impact as the warm chord or tidy tone pattern idling beside it. The arrangements stick to an effective coast-and-surge model of development: The tracks skim low and then tilt upward with the addition of a drum or synth part. It's a stock trick that works well, and Lali Puna use it with unusual tact. They gently float up, drift down again, always arriving at the same coolly appealing place, regardless of whether they've loaded their framework with blown-out bass, IDM garbles, or tuned metal plinks. Large portions of songs by similar acts such as Stars, Au Revoir Simone, and Alaska in Winter can seem to exist solely to set up the big, memorable drop. Lali Puna are just as approachable, but less ingratiating. As a result, every moment matters, which has a curiously muting effect: No individual moment seems to matter especially much.
