UK duo The Boy Least Likely To have emerged as a beacon of stability within the tumultuous confines of the indie pop world by detaching themselves from the hype cycle and embarking on a course of measured release and evolution. In his review of the band's second album, 2009's The Law of the Playground, Marc Hogan spent a considerable amount of time grappling with the album's outmoded feel, ultimately concluding that the record was "especially out of step in 2009." Four years later, that statement still rings true: while the reigning hip sound has shifted from Hogan's descriptions of harsh tones and flawless Auto-Tune to a sort of omnivorous polyglot pop, the thoroughly twee vibe and simple songcraft of The Boy Least Likely To remains surprisingly anachronistic. Divorced from the context of the larger pop landscape, the band's new album The Great Perhaps finds Jof Owen and Pete Hobbs progressing at their own pace, exploring new sounds and becoming decreasingly reliant on the juxtaposition of child-like sonics and mature lyrical themes.
The finest moments on The Great Perhaps typically revolve around the band's deployment of a previously unheard influence or instrument. Early single "Climbing Out of Love" is constructed around an indelible, bubbly synth hook and a basic, cycling acoustic guitar riff: the result is a touching electro-acoustic pop curio that's reminiscent of the brightest cuts from Bright Eyes' 2005 oddity Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Another highlight is the gentle ballad "Michael Collins," which flashes a second or two of Beach House-like drum machine haze before taking a right turn into tasteful string orchestration and harmonies that could've been ripped from a late-period Band of Horses B-side. It's apparent that Hobbs and Owen have been digesting the work of several of their contemporaries, and the deployment of those influences is consistently strong on The Great Perhaps.
The album's other great successes find Owen focusing on specific narratives and fleshing out songs with certain lyrical details, rather than sticking to basic rhymes and big-picture concepts. "Michael Collins" uses the imagined experience of an early American astronaut to set up a consideration of our lack of perspective, and the combination of that big lyrical reveal with aforementioned vocal harmony is strikingly touching. Elsewhere, on the slow-paced lament "The Dreamer Song," Owen's mention of small items like flimsy spring blossoms and gin-lemonade cocktails greatly flesh out an otherwise standard tale of hopeless romanticism.
That said, a few songs over the course of The Great Perhaps' could use a lot more of this sort of detail. The album's weakest songs lean too heavily on the crutch of pairing sonic whimsy with adult rumination on love and loneliness, and the result is a handful of maudlin cuts couched in cliché. In this vein, the album's nadir is the blessedly quick "Even Jesus Couldn't Mend My Broken Heart", which marries a sparkly Wiggles-worthy synth melody to the hopeless titular claim. The shock of this combination transcends surprise and quickly zooms into the realm of questionable taste; it feels like a cheap trick, especially given the mature construction of the album's second half.
There's a certain comfort found in following a band whose slow, subtle growth seems entirely separated from the rapidly changing indie pop landscape. The Great Perhaps is another modestly successful step for The Boy Least Likely To, reassurance that the band is still cranking out thoughtful, gentle work.
