Album Review: High Llamas, Hey Panda

The High Llamas’ head man Sean O’Hagan can trace his venerable lineage all the way back to Cork’s Microdisney and the distant grime of early ’80s Ireland. With the later High Llamas, he smuggled his Beach Boys-inspired intense pop into our lives. That later incarnation remains essential, as O’Hagan still applies his pure pop sensibilities to unconventional production values and melodic songs.

Hey Panda commences with the song of that name. It’s quirky for an opener, with sturdy handclaps, female doo-doohs, engaging burps and farts, and the lead voice riding an inspired mix.  It sets you up for further sonic exploration, including the animal noises, chipmunk voices, pop-soul, restless drums and strident approach of ‘Fall Off The Mountain’. ‘Sisters Friends’ has a shimmering piano opening, before a female lead vocal, tinkling percussion and Zappa-like interjections nudge you somewhere else.

The seductive ‘Yoga Goat’ sashays around with jazzy fills and short-lived vocals, and ‘The Water Moves’ has an almost conventional band set-up, with gentle jazz-soul under electric piano and rich interplay between male and female voices.

Hey Panda benefits from characteristically idiosyncratic production, suggesting O’Hagan has gone cold turkey on his Brian Wilson obsession and replaced it with Miles Davis, SZA and the Ezra Collective. Along the way, he’s had help from Bonnie Prince Billy, vocalists Mae Morris and Livvy O’Hagan, and the production magic of Fryars. There’s no fluffy filler, so expect the unexpected and be grateful for a man still eager to avoid the obvious.

8/10