This is Charlotte North Carolina based band The Mystery Plan's fifth album and is produced by John Fryer.
This album opens with the slow jazz inflected Those Stars that has some sax that reminds me of Ronnie Ross' work with Lou Reed and David Bowie even if the song itself is more like early Willard Grant Conspiracy and sounds like it's made to lay back and gaze at the stars too while luxuriating in that sax playing.
We All Get Down sounds like it should be the song to soundtrack a work out routine, but instead is a fey indie song that reminds me of Belle & Sebastian, it's ethereal qualities are probably best for some really slow pilates exercises rather than Zumba or anything even remotely energetic.
The album then shifts gears on Al Gore Rhythms the recent single that has a sort of A Tribe Called Quest style shuffle thing going on. Speaking as someone who once spent 30 minutes playing music to Al Gore I have to say the man had no rhythm and I doubt he'd appreciate how cool this song is as it also reminds me of a blissed out Neneh Cherry.
Ballad Of JC Quinn is a nice tribute to the actor whose press releases for Barfly I have been looking at in my collection this week, this feels like an almost Bossa Nova style Stereolab song as they want to go for a drink with JC Quinn once more.
Lolaphone sounds like they are trying to make a song that sounds like Lola Dutronic and sort of pull it off with a sample vocal that reminds me of the Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds and some lovely strings against the more dance orientated drum and bass making it a funky tune to chill out too.
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Bonny is a slight laid-back cover of the Prefab Sprout classic paying tribute to friend that has recently gone, this is almost as endearingly succinct as the original and a good choice of song to cover.
Long Way To Heaven has an almost desert rock feel to it but with vocals that want to caress your ears into a nice slumber. Sweet Tart is another fey and sweet song about a break-up from the sound of it.
Electric Love is ethereal goth with what sounds like some Sitar on it and it has that sort of Play Dead meets The Creatures feel to it which of course means it ends up also sounding like Eden House while using the sort of Rhythms that are more common on Pulnoc's records.
The second version of We All Get Down (Rob Tavaglione Mix) adds more beats to the original version and thus makes it more likely you might actually get down and funky to it.
The album closes with Distant Sirens a slow piano led tribute to whoever those Distant Sirens are trying to help or save and it sounds like it would work well as the soundtrack to an emotional ending on Chicago Med or a similar TV program.
Find out more at https://themysteryplan.bandcamp.com/album/zsa-zsa https://www.facebook.com/themysteryplannc/ https://www.facebook.com/10mmomega/
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