A friend put me on to this by way of thanking me for getting him into far too much music to mention. France's best known exports are slightly more weighty than this but whilst Yelle comes from a slightly frothier end of the electropop market that is, in this case, no bad thing at all.
Musically this is tightly sequenced solid electro but it maintans a light touch throughout the album's duration. The music avoids any dark shades and veers towards bright melodies and sticks itself firmly in pop music territory. In a day when that's seen as something of a slur this is without question the sort of music pop should be aiming to be. The fact that it's sung in French doesn't detract from the pleasures of "Pop-Up" and says a lot for the strength of the melodies and songwriting in general here.
The sequence of the album works well and doesn't throw all its best shots out right at the start. Opener "Ce Jeu" is an obvious choice for a single at some point although it's "A Cause Des Garcons" which posesses the finest melody. Anyone with any sense should hire a translator and ship this across to Xenomania for Girls Alound as it sounds like their kind of song. Elsewhere the melodies and vocals hint at various other pop highlights of the moment. "Mal Poli" and "Je Veux Te Voir" sound like an electro Ting-Tings with hint of that shouty pop about them. The rest of the tracks provide some neat hooks to hang their wares upon.
The overall impression this album leaves is good. This isn't deep or emotional, it's pop music. If this album were food it would be a cheese souffle - light, fluffy, with a nice tangy kick to it - not substantial but very satisfying all the same.
