Bodi Bill
Next Time

With a bit of imagination, the Berliners Bodi Bill are like the autumn version of Hot Chip. Take away the nerdy big glasses and the almost self-parodic carefree attitude and add a good dose of bedroom introspection for gray and rainy days. But with a mood that we could define as metropolitan.

The musical framework is an Ellen Allien-like electronica, dark and minimal (but not minimalistic), yet never losing sight of the song form. This is thanks to a clean and evocative voice that at times sings as if it were a Karate album. To get an idea of how such seemingly distant influences are well amalgamated, just listen to a track like the opener "One Or Two", enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone who still has a scrap of a heart. The same goes for the more rarefied "Tip Toe", or the new single "Depart". Then there are brilliant titles like those of the instrumentals "Sorry To Disturb You But I'm Lost" and "Small Sorrow, Great Songs" (the latter practically a techno track to dance to in the dark).

This underlying melancholy, not at all pointless, permeates all 10 songs of a formidable album and elevates Bodi Bill ten notches above any jumble of hipsters who dress like clowns and produce music that no one will remember in two or three years. They, on the other hand, have all the makings to become great if they don't blow it.

A revelation.