Shake Off Your Troubles is the third album from Scottish indie-pop band The Little Kicks, and it’s a nice little piece – a gentle, unobtrusive listen that is brimming with emotion.
The music as a whole is quite sparse and minimalistic, but this approach definitely works for The Little Kicks because it makes you pay more attention to each individual element of their sound – and as the construction of the album is very good, it makes for great listening as a result. Additionally, it’s a very accessible piece, with several facets of their sound able to appeal to a wider audience, which can only be a good thing!
Shake Off Your Troubles gets off to a good start, but it’s the latter half that features some of the stronger songs of the album. Bang The Drum Slowly is a massive song with a nice little shout to the album title (in my opinion, choosing some lyrics for the album title shows a bit more imagination than simply naming it after one of the songs!) and following song You And Someone Like Me is a bit more of an electronically-driven number that has a funky vibe with a vocal line that you’ll find yourself singing along to before you know it!
All in all, a decent album featuring some really good songs. Don’t be surprised if this band becomes the ‘next big thing’ because they certainly have the ability to go far in the industry with music like this.
8/10