The Last Mixed Tape reviews IIVV, the debut studio album from electro-pop outfit All Tvvins.

IIVV is one big celebration of infectious highly stylised electro-pop. It’s a kitchen sink type album, built upon a production that fills the entire sonic spectrum. In this way All Tvvins’ debut is a record of bold choices.

Indeed, throughout IIVV you feel All Tvvins twisting and turning their pop sensibilities around the large-scale production of the album in an effort to impress. And impress it does, songs such as ‘Thank You’ and ‘The Call’ switch on the turn of a dime from hook filled choruses to lush melodic passages just made to be “earworms”.

And that’s what’s so refreshing about IIVV, the album does not pretend to be anything more than it is. It’s not a dense conceptual or experimental record, instead it’s an album about the revelry of vivid pop music and that in itself is something to be championed.

That’s not to say All Tvvin’s ambition is limited. The duo look to create a definite sense of weight to their music with songs like ‘Darkest Ocean’ feeling characterized by big rumbling rhythmic blasts of electro-pop, while the minimalist intro of ‘Book’ is an interesting dash of Steve Reich into IIVV’s overall milieu.

Sometimes its easy to forget or underappreciate the difficulty of writing straight-up pop music, especially in a modern context. Writing a song that leaves a lasting impression in four minutes or less is an art in and of itself, and one that has always fascinated me ever since childhood. With IIVV All Tvvins take on this task and swing for the fences, each song could be a single, each song is worthy of constant replay, making IIVV an album deserving of the praise that has followed All Tvvins since first emerging on the scene.

Rating: 9/10

IIVV by All Tvvins is out now.