Come Clean

Review by Michael O'Donahue

As far as Long Awaited Returns go, Curve's is pretty limp. Forgettable. Predictable. Monotonous. But still better than Pop, if y'know what I mean. Still just another big beat for the dance floor, though.

"Coming Up Roses" has a nice tune in the chorus, but the rest of it sits around waiting. And so did I, waiting for the album to get going, which it never quite does. There are lifeless attempts at drum 'n bass and some stabs at songwriting, too. "Something Familiar" is a good example of the latter, with its trad verse-chorus arrangement, but it bogs down in overdone production and a somnambulant pace, and ends without leaving much of an impression.

Even in the Brave New World of popular music, a knack for twiddling knobs still needs to go along with a flare for hooks and for memorable tunes, but Come Clean is very short on both. Every now and then, something interesting pokes its head through the murk and fog, but mostly... weird noise, then beat, then some singing, next song, next song, skip. Fini.