- Jeremy Greenspan, the vocalist with Toronto electronic-pop duo Junior Boys, said the “sound” of the album was caught the day he bought a new overcoat (a big grey overcoat, actually – but – black sounded better according to Greenspan when he started vocalising some lyrics) and the sound of the material swishing gave not only the album’s title track but to the sound of the album itself.

It’s accurate – rather than wanky – and that sound is captured on these eleven new tracks making up Junior Boys’ fifth studio album, the first in five years. Another soundscape that could describe the album is the crystal coolness of a smooth body of water inviting you in for a refreshing dip – but that could have been instigated as a result of living through a blast of Brisbane’s tropical summer heat that usually drops in at the start of February.

Greenspan, along with collaborator, engineer Matt Didemus, brings a lot of what you’ve come to expect from Junior Boys. The sound of that swishing fabric is replicated, if you will, by keeping the production sparse and exact. Looping beats and drops of what sound like liquid electronica allow the listener to flow through the album, rather than drift aimlessly.

There is a “sameness” with the sound, and it’s not a bad thing as it keeps that cool soundscape moving. Though there is an awful lot of “baby” going on. Three tracks are right from the R&B playbook, at least for lyrical content – C’Mon Baby, Baby Give Up On It and Baby Don’t Hurt Me. Throw in Love Is A Fire (with it’s annoying/compelling - choose your own tag there – underscoring beat) and a soul classic from the disco-drenched '70s (Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do For Love) you could be forgiven for thinking Junior Boys had an eye of the upcoming Valentine’s Day market, if such a thing exists.

What You Won’t Do For Love has been given a juicy beat and a Kraftwerk like set of boops and bleeps that take the best of the seventies from both sides of the Atlantic, and Greenspan, almost breathless, croons the lyrics (at one point going into full, sultry whispering) . It’s Greenspan’s vocals that constantly tease the ear on the album. Like the way that Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys (who, by the way have a new disc out in April) has a distinct vocal style that’s not straight out singing, Greenspan plays with his vocals – fulsome pop singing via a bit of Bob Dylan like mumbling, some almost Barry Gibb-esque falsetto and best heard when he’s switching around with styles from direct attack to the afore-mentioned falsetto on Love Is A Fire.

Big Black Coat is an album that does hang together as a whole and is best appreciated in the one sitting rather than seeing it as an album of singles. By keeping it simple on one level, it allows for complexity of style -whether through lyrics, vocal styling or the blending of beats- and electronic ear worms to flourish and so improves with each repeat listening.

- Blair Martin.