SOS has done everything right so far, catching our attention a while back with a beautiful cover of Lykke Li's track, "Little Bit", and then proceeding to release three fantastic singles in the past few months. With just the three efforts, too, the Portland-based duo has managed to get us totally hooked on their darker, bass-tinted electronic-pop sound, and although we've had plenty of confidence in the pair after hearing their first few releases, we were never expecting them to follow up with an album as good as their self-titled one here highlighted. The brilliance of SOS lies in their ability to dominate this middle ground between an ultra-poppy sound and an overly dark one, and while we've heard a few other artists hit this sound over the past year, SOS is definitely providing us with one of the best in the form of their full-length project. Truly this sound that they portray is very versatile; we hear a lighter side of their work on the introductory track, "Light", and we receive a darker vibe on "Gorgeous", equally excellent works. Percussion is a huge component of SOS' music, and we hear just how well they can utilize it through the project on efforts like "I Like That Ur Nice". The duo embraces a minimalistic R&B feel on additional track, "With You", though it progresses to incorporate a wide range of instrumentation. "Secrets" reveals yet another side of their sound with its jungle-sounding percussion and sparse guitar strums, and their conclusion to the album, "Bleeding Heart", emanates a soft, mellow vibe that we haven't necessarily heard from the group prior to the track. It's pretty uncommon that we come across a debut album of SOS' consistent quality, so make sure that you give a good listen to what SOS has to offer here, because it could definitely come to characterize a future-R&B and pop sound. SOS won't be out until September 15th, but from now until then, you can stream it over at Indie Shuffle and pre-order it on iTunes. [via Indie Shuffle]
SOS