Is Anybody Happier Today?

Saville are proud bearers of all the best kooky traditions of pop - dreaming and not scheming, singing paeans to the stars when everyone else is getting a market strategy plan. Opening track 'The First Pop Star in Space' says it all, complete with deliciously spooked sound effects and spaced-out chimes.

'The Last Day of Summer' is heartbreakingly beautiful and far, far more than just another disposable "summer's gone" ode - there is a deeper strain of magnificent melancholy here. 'Dancing Star' bursts at the seams with carry on hilarity and sonic clowning about, but listen closely for the kernel of Saville's pop wisdom - "The city has no sense of wonder / it sours the milky way / that is why we give birth to dancing stars". And then a gorgeous hook from heaven kicks in and whisks us off to dance with our dreams.

For a rough sketch of Saville's pop genius, consider a ludicrously tall cocktail with the playful pomp of The Walker Brothers, the electronic emotional dexterity of New Order, the honey dripping pop salvation of Northern soul and the gentle guitar cathedrals of Forever Changes.

The title track and sleeve artwork parody the endless human pursuit of (so-called) happiness, featuring a lucky spinning wheel with sections such as 'matching Volvos', 'personality', 'promotion' and so on. Whatever about the meaninglessness of material acquistions, Is There Anybody Happier Today? is well worth putting on your shopping list. Pop as it should be.