Mice Parade
Obrigado Saudade

7:30 AM on any winter morning. Adam Pierce opens his eyes, lifts his sleepy body from the bed, staggering as he sets his bare feet on a cold floor, casting a quick and distracted glance out the window. Nothing has changed since yesterday: his New York is covered by a pitch-black sky, it's snowing terribly, and the mere thought of the cold outside makes him retreat back into the warm embrace of the blankets.

If you had lived through the last January in the Big Apple for just a few days, just like many New Yorkers, you would dream of the Brazilian sun with your eyes wide open, and you too would suffer from a chronic and inexplicable “saudade.”
This unnecessary preface aims to steer away from “Obrigado Saudade” those who, attracted by the exotic title, hope, by purchasing this album, to satisfy their nu-brazilian-electro cravings (feel free to add meaningless names to the list) and whatever else the latest dance trendy scene is offering. Removed from the delirious digressions, there isn't any link, least of all musical, between the Mice Parade's latest effort and Brazil.

Conversely, if there's anyone intrigued by how skillful musicians can craft songs with distinctive sound and captivating melody, this work could turn out to be a pleasant surprise. Adam Pierce, the one-man-band behind the Mice Parade project, delivers 12 tracks born from the successful mix of acoustic instruments and electronic arrangements. Opening with the hypnotic sound of Mùm getting a makeover (“Two, Three, Fall” and even “Spain”), K.A. Valtýsdóttir's childlike voice, on leave from the Icelandic group, finds itself perfectly at home on a bed of arpeggios and electronic beats.

The highest point of the album is already reached with “Focus On The Rollercoaster,” a song whose progression recalls the rollercoaster of its title and the always lamented My Bloody Valentine of “Loveless” in atmosphere. The rollercoaster seems to return in the rapid shifts of style and genre: driving, jazzy rhythms (“Mystery Brethen”), the inevitable Chicago post-rock, and the more frequent electro-acoustic excursions, which have the sounds of Four Tet as the most explicit references (try to believe: harp and guitar in “Guitars For Plants”), these are the strongest and most unforgettable sensations. Members of HIM and the Dylan Group join in to create an album designed to warm hearts during the coldest winter, and one ends up appreciating every single parenthesis.