Battery Operated Orchestra’s eighth album turns analogue synthpop toward the English coast, with twelve songs shaped by found photographs and the imagined lives behind them. Sea Views Soft Rains keeps its electronic polish close to the ground. Melodies carry stories of love, revenge, loss and second chances, while rain-streaked windows, empty promenades and abandoned ballrooms give the songs their setting without pushing them into grand drama. The Hastings duo have been making this kind of personal electronic pop since 2012, and the writing stays focused on people rather than spectacle.
The details do a lot of the work. “Alligator” sets warm, honeyed vocals against glitchy beep-and-boom synths and muted percussion, while “Responsible Adult” runs on a firm beat, odd samples and small blips that recall early Depeche Mode and Ladytron. There’s also a pop instinct in the Cardigans and Japanese Breakfast comparisons, especially in the way melodies sit above busy layers without losing their shape. The twelve-track sequence moves from “Intercity” through “Medium Wave”, making room for field-recording touches, retro-pop colour and moments that feel more bruised than glossy. Fans of synthpop with proper songs at the centre should find plenty here, though its photo-album structure may ask for a little more patience than a straightforward electro-pop set.
